The seven-day rolling average decrease for ICU beds, a lagging indicator, is now 1.9 percent.
137 deaths were reported today, down from yesterday’s 198. Seven-day rolling average increase for deaths, the ultimate lagging indicator, is 107.
* IDPH…
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today reported 183,722 new confirmed and probable cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including an increase of 746 deaths since January 14, 2022.
Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 2,773,362 cases, including 29,845 deaths, in 102 counties in Illinois. The age of cases ranges from younger than one to older than 100 years. Since January 14, 2022, laboratories have reported 1,539,013 specimens for a total of 49,488,107. As of last night, 6,054 individuals in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 972 patients were in the ICU and 560 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators.
The preliminary seven-day statewide positivity for cases as a percent of total test from January 14 – 20, 2022 is 11.9%. The preliminary seven-day statewide test positivity from January 14 – 20, 2022 is 15.3%.
A total of 20,207,132 vaccines have been administered in Illinois as of last midnight. The seven-day rolling average of vaccines administered daily is 44,420 doses. Since January 14, 2022, 310,939 doses were reported administered in Illinois. Of Illinois’ total population, more than 74% has received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose, 65% of Illinois’ total population is fully vaccinated, and almost 49% boosted according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
All data are provisional and will change. Additional information and COVID-19 data can be found at https://dph.illinois.gov/covid19.html.
Vaccination is the key to ending this pandemic. To find a COVID-19 vaccination location near you, go to www.vaccines.gov.
An Aurora police sergeant has died from complications of COVID-19, the department’s second virus-related death in just more than a week. […]
Under city policy, Aurora police officers are required to either provide proof of vaccination or undergo weekly testing to protect against the spread of COVID-19, department spokesman Paris Lewbel said.
When asked if Thurman and Shields were fully vaccinated, Lewbel said the city does not release any information from employee medical files, for privacy reasons. […]
COVID-19 was the leading cause of deaths among U.S. law enforcement in 2021, killing at least 301 officers, according to a preliminary report from the National Law Enforcement Memorial and Museum.
* Apparently, this is becoming a thing in our age of unnecessary rapid test shortages. Please, don’t share your test swabs to pool your results…
Then there’s the ick factor. “From a public-health perspective, the idea of sticking swabs up each other’s noses doesn’t sound like a great thing to do,” Nuzzo said. If one person in a household gets COVID, the others aren’t doomed to infection just from living in the same space. In fact, the “secondary attack rate” within a home—which describes the chance of transmitting a virus from one household member to another—appears to be just 15 to 35 percent for SARS-CoV-2. But intranasal promiscuity is a surefire way to increase those numbers, Nuzzo warns, and spread untold other germs besides. […]
The problem isn’t that pooled rapid tests definitely don’t work; it’s that they don’t definitely work. The tests available to Americans are in “a total data-free zone” in this regard, Nuzzo said.
*** UPDATE *** Scary stuff in this press release…
Just over two weeks after confirming 13,000 COVID-19 deaths in Cook County, the Medical Examiner’s Office (MEO) marked another grim pandemic milestone today. The MEO confirmed the County’s 14,000th death due to COVID-19 infection this morning.
The Office noted that six weeks passed between the County’s 12,000th and 13,000th COVID-19 deaths and more than three and a half months passed between the County’s 11,000th and 12,000th COVID-19 death. The latest milestone comes during the third surge in COVID-19 cases across the County and the nation. The Office confirmed 425 COVID-19 deaths for the week of January 10. Those are the highest totals the MEO has seen since November of 2020, months before the COVID-19 vaccine was widely available to residents.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, 6,750 COVID-19 deaths have occurred in the City of Chicago, accounting for approximately 48% of deaths throughout Cook County. Males account for 57% of the County’s COVID-19 deaths.
The Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) announced today that the unemployment rate fell -0.4 percentage point to 5.3 percent, while nonfarm payrolls increased by +22,800 in December, based on preliminary data provided by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and released by IDES. The preliminary report for November monthly payrolls was revised from +19,500 to +19,900 jobs. The November unemployment rate was unchanged from the preliminary report, remaining at 5.7 percent.
The December payroll jobs estimate and unemployment rate reflects activity for the week including the 12th. The BLS has published FAQs for the December payroll jobs and the unemployment rate.
In December, the three industry sectors with the largest over-the-month gains in employment were: Professional and Business Services (+9,400), Trade, Transportation and Utilities (+8,500), and Leisure and Hospitality (+2,200). The industry sectors that reported monthly payroll declines were: Financial Activities (-1,800), Educational and Health Services (-300), and Government (-100). […]
The state’s unemployment rate was +1.4 percentage points higher than the national unemployment rate reported for December, which was 3.9 percent, down -0.3 percentage point from the previous month. The Illinois unemployment rate was down -2.7 percentage points from a year ago when it was at 8.0 percent.
Compared to a year ago, nonfarm payroll employment increased by +262,600 jobs, with gains across nearly all major industries. The industry groups with the largest jobs increases were: Leisure and Hospitality (+126,000), Trade, Transportation and Utilities (+48,300), and Professional and Business Services (+28,600). Financial Activities (-5,000) was the only industry group that reported jobs losses. In December, total nonfarm payrolls were up +4.7 percent over-the-year in Illinois and up +4.5 percent in the nation.
The number of unemployed workers was down from the prior month, a -6.0 percent decrease to 333,100, and was down -32.1 percent over the same month for one year ago. The labor force was up +0.5 percent over-the-month and up +2.0 percent over-the-year. The unemployment rate identifies those individuals who are out of work and seeking employment. An individual who exhausts or is ineligible for benefits is still reflected in the unemployment rate if they actively seek work.
Leisure & Hospitality numbers for this month probably won’t be pretty, what with omicron and the complete lack of additional federal and state assistance for laid-off workers, parents of school kids and slammed businesses.
The growth rate for jobs in our state has more than doubled the national growth rate in the past quarter – and tripled it in the last month. Hard #’s & sources below.
• IL gained 23,200 jobs in December (+0.39%), and gained a total of 84,700 jobs during the fourth quarter of CY 2021 (+1.46%).
• This growth roughly doubled that experienced by the US as a whole (+0.13% for December and +0.74% for Q4).
• IL accounted for 7.7% of US job growth during the fourth quarter, compared to its 3.9% share of the population.
* I went over this with subscribers earlier and we may talk about it again next week, so here’s Greg Hinz…
A fight that’s beginning to have a major impact on the 2022 elections turned more contentious today as Springfield Republicans and Democrats traded new charges over who’s responsible for rising rates of violent crime in the Chicago area.
In dueling events, Republicans called for total repeal of the Democrats’ signature criminal-justice reform package enacted last year, asserting it so hamstrings police and frees criminals from penalty that it’s beyond salvaging.
Democrats accused Republicans of playing a racial card and trying to score political points with a crime-weary public, and urged GOP lawmakers to work with them on tweaks to the law, not wholesale changes.
Republicans began the exchange when, in a remote press conference, they called for repeal of the 2021 equity bill, known as the SAFE-T Act, which, among other things, phases out the use of cash bail, sets new standards for when police use force, requires officers to restrain any colleague who uses excessive or illegal force, and requires timely medical care for injured people held in custody.
Tweaks to the bill, including a measure passed last year diluting some of the use-of-force language in the original bill, aren’t good enough, the Republicans said on Thursday, and the SAFE-T Act should be repealed entirely.
Mazzochi said it would only take a few Democrats to cross over to get it done. “Repeal is a realistic solution. The original, underlying legislation passed with a bare minimum of 60 votes,” Mazzochi said. “ … It almost didn’t pass the first time.” […]
Durkin and Windhorst, both former prosecutors, said the bill made the state more dangerous. Durkin said Democrats would have to answer to their constituents for the bill’s passage and Republicans would use public safety as an issue in upcoming elections. […]
Spain said the Safe-T Act will leave half of the county sheriffs in Illinois leaving their posts and has left city and county police departments scrambling to recruit and retain officers after a wave of resignations in the wake of the bill’s passage.
— The Network: Advocating Against Domestic Violence (@CMBWNTheNetwork) January 20, 2022
The end of sexual harm includes the end of oppressive practices in the criminal legal system. As survivors and allies who advocate for victims' rights, CAASE wholeheartedly supports the PFA and will fight for its implementation. #EndMoneyBail#DefendPFAhttps://t.co/U2wMXbJAtM
— Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation (@TheCAASE) January 20, 2022
Re-upping this critical piece from our ED & @TheCAASE — The Pretrial Fairness Act increases safety for survivors- e#requiring detention instead of release in DV cases and limiting access to survivors in bond court. https://t.co/3eMsQLREYd
— The Network: Advocating Against Domestic Violence (@CMBWNTheNetwork) January 20, 2022
Repealing the PFA is 👏LETHARGIC👏LEGISLATING👏
If folks are genuinely interested in the rights of survivors, they need to listen to orgs that, ahem, advocate full-time for victims' rights. CAASE supports the #PFA and the coalition behind #EndCashBail — not public manipulation. https://t.co/k9oEjHNwyT
— Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation (@TheCAASE) January 20, 2022
There’s no such thing as perfect policy, but we are doing the work to perfect it; it’s what our State deserves & frankly it’s what our constituents voted for. Not REACTIVE RECALCITRANCE. Just calling something “Anti Police” doesn’t make it so. Do the work.
* The Illinois Legislative Black Caucus also issued a statement…
State Rep. Sonya Harper, Joint Chair of The Illinois Black Caucus (ILBC), state Rep. Kam Buckner, House Chair of the ILBC, and state Senator Robert Peters, Senate Chair of the ILBC, released the following statement after today’s Republicans press conference on the SAFE-T Act:
“As usual with the Republican Party, any effort to make the justice system fairer for Black people is called ‘dangerous.’ With this law, we have worked directly with community organizations, legal rights advocates and law enforcement to make our justice system more effective and more just at the same time. That’s why the Illinois State Police and other law enforcement groups continue to work with us on this bill. ”
“Many provisions of the SAFE-T Act have not even gone into effect yet, proving the Republican gambit is all for show. In fact, when fully implemented, experts say the SAFE-T Act will help improve public safety by supporting a more holistic approach for first-responders. Instead of coming up with solutions to address crime, Republicans are just trying the same racial scare tactics we see across the country. Today’s press conference is another instance of the Illinois GOP chasing relevancy after years of budget impasses and budget cuts. We trust the public won’t fall for this. We are improving public safety, supporting law enforcement and ending systemic injustice at the same time. We are not going backwards.”
Governor J.B. Pritzker is also defending the bill and firing back at republicans.
“These are the same people that voted against budgets that provide funding for violence interruption programs, those are the people that held that press conference. They don’t really mean what they said. They’re just trying to bring up some sort of campaign issue and frankly, it’s all pretty false,” Pritzker said.
“Illinois has become the wild wild Midwest,” Durkin said.
Rates of violent crime have increased in the past few years, said Dr. Magic Wade, assistant professor of political studies at the University of Illinois Springfield.
But that increase cannot be attributed to the SAFE-T Act, she said, because most of the act has yet to go into effect, and crime rates in some parts of the state have been rising since 2015.
“Violent crime was going up before the pandemic,” Wade said. “So the pandemic sort of put into overdrive a trend that was already happening.”
Wade, who studies the criminal justice system, said the increase in crime observed in Illinois is part of a nationwide trend. Criminologists do not agree on why crime rates rise and fall, which leaves room for people to interpret data in more partisan ways.
Yet, many of the frequent talking points about the skyrocketing crime center around eliminating cash bail. The “Pretrial Fairness Act” doesn’t take effect until 2023. House Lead Sponsor Justin Slaughter (D-Chicago) said Republicans need to stop the divisive rhetoric about the law.
“A lot, if not all, of the SAFE-T Act is steeped in strong research and is evidence-based,” Slaughter said in an interview Thursday. “That’s what we relied on, and that’s what we leaned on.”
Slaughter also said it’s important not to turn back the clock on criminal justice reform. He feels the Republican’s approach to “lock ‘em up and toss away the key” hurts communities of color. He nicknamed the GOP effort the “Dangerous Act.”
While some Democrats were hesitant to support the SAFE-T Act, it’s doubtful enough Democrats would join Republicans to repeal this law.
“It’s not going to be repealed,” Slaughter said. “As long as I’m chairing the House Judiciary-Criminal Committee, the Dangerous Act will not see the light of day. I will tell you that.”
Criminal justice legislation that passed a year ago is an anti-cop, anti-safety albatross that some Democrats already want to repeal, according to Illinois House Republicans.
That lede is emblematic of why the Democrats have so much work to do this year, both here and in DC.
The noise problems for the Weglarz brothers began in 2014 after a near-accident at the nearby Belt Railway switching yard — the largest in North America — prompted officials to add a second set of brakes to the rails.
After that work was completed, patrons at the Weglarz brothers’ three hotels in Bedford Park complained about sleepless nights due to screeching train brakes, which peaked at 92 decibels, far exceeding the 65 decibel maximum allowed by village ordinance.
For years, the Weglarzes passed along to authorities the complaints of hotel guests including flight crews laying over from Midway. They got local tax dollars to help pay for sound insulation at the hotels. They hired noise consultants, as did suburban officials. They complained to the state’s pollution control board.
They also enlisted the help of Bedford Park Village President Dave Brady, who says he decided to ask Madigan for the money “on a whim.”
“I was stunned when we got the call,” Brady says of the earmark, the largest Rebuild Illinois allocation with direct ties to Madigan.
A spokesman for the Belt Railway yard says the company didn’t request the $98 million grant, under which the Illinois Department of Transportation has begun assessing the noise issues and whether the company’s noise-reduction measures have helped.
Madigan & Getzendanner, the former speaker’s law firm, has represented the Weglarz brothers’ Bedford Park hotels for years, saving them $3 million in property taxes over three years, according to Cook County records.
The hotels are an important source of revenue for Bedford Park and other government bodies, paying $4.1 million in state and local taxes a year, according to a brief the Weglarz brothers filed when they made their since-dropped noise complaint to the pollution control board.
The Illinois Republican Party calls on JB Pritzker to answer questions about his role in authorizing taxpayer money be spent on secret infrastructure projects at Mike Madigan’s request.
Specifically, Governor Pritzker should start by:
1. Releasing all communications between the Office of the Speaker of the House and the Governor’s office, the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget, and/or the Illinois Department of Transportation;
2. Releasing all communications between the Governor’s Office and both the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget and the Department of Transportation regarding Rebuild Illinois projects; and
3. Release the full list of projects that fall under the category “Leadership Additions.”
Kinda wonder if the ILGOP realizes it’s throwing their own leaders under the bus here. They got “additions” as well. Also, all the projects are line items.
* Co-sign except for spending hours in the car together…
This is some BS. I invite any reporter who would casually smear the people of Central & Southern Illinois like this to drive around the rural country roads with me. I’ve lived here five years and have never once seen a Confederate flag in a front yard. Far from “common.” pic.twitter.com/ygm45ikjvL
“I do think that he would make a viable candidate — if he can get past the primary — in the fall,” Edgar said. “The fact that he seems somewhat moderate; he’s well funded; he’s African American, so perhaps he can pull over some African American votes, which are really the key to the Democrats in Illinois.”
“But the Republicans, I think, have to realize that they’ve got to win a lot of independents and moderate Republicans back — and maybe what I call ‘thoughtful Democrats.’ And you can’t go too far to the right to do that,” Edgar continued. “That’s why Irvin would have a good shot because I think he will undoubtedly be perceived more in the middle than he will be to the far right.”
But even if Irvin emerges from the GOP primary, it will be an uphill climb in the general election, Edgar said.
“Well, I think an incumbent governor has the advantage going into an election — should have the advantage — unless they’ve been a terrible governor,” Edgar said. “And I don’t think Pritzker has been a terrible governor. I mean, he’s had some tough things to deal with, particularly the virus.”
That’s the thing about Irvin. He’s not afraid to try, likely well aware that even if he goes down in flames, this high-dollar, high-profile campaign can do nothing but add to his brand, whether that contributes to another run for higher office or, worst case scenario, more name recognition for his law firm.
Think about it. It took Irvin three attempts before finally becoming Aurora’s mayor and even then he beat his opponent by only 170 votes. Five years later, he’s aiming to be the state’s top general.
So even if you’re not a fan, credit Irvin with a healthy ego and/or boatload of confidence. Both are critical when taking on the Democratic governor of Illinois.
Along with a boatload of money, of course.
*** UPDATE *** Press release…
Today, the Lake County Building & Construction Trades Council, the McHenry County Building & Construction Trades Council, and their affiliates announced their endorsements of Judge Elizabeth Rochford in her campaign for the Illinois Supreme Court’s new Second District. The Lake County Building & Construction Trades Council is made up of 18 local affiliate trade unions, and the McHenry County Building & Construction Trades Council is made up of 26 local affiliate trade unions.
“Growing up in a union household, the values of organized labor have forever been a part of my foundation,” said Judge Elizabeth Rochford. “That’s why I am so honored to receive the endorsements of the Lake County Building & Construction Trades Council, the McHenry Council Building & Construction Trades Council, and their affiliates. My first job as an attorney was helping injured people who needed someone to fight for them, and I’ve carried that experience with me throughout my career. As a Supreme Court Justice, I will always work to make our judicial system one where everyone is treated with fairness.”
* I told subscribers about Chaplin’s impending withdrawal several days ago. Here’s the Daily Herald…
Almost a decade ago, Democrats first made significant gains in Republican-dominated DuPage County with the election of two women.
State Rep. Deb Conroy and county board member Liz Chaplin won their seats in 2012.
Conroy is now running for the highest office in DuPage, and Chaplin has dropped out of the race. The state lawmaker from Villa Park has picked up Chaplin’s endorsement in her bid to become the first county board chairwoman in DuPage history. […]
Chaplin’s departure leaves Conroy in a Democratic primary contest against county board member Lynn LaPlante of Glen Ellyn. […]
LaPlante is serving her first term on the board. During a blue wave in the 2018 election, LaPlante came within 7,314 votes of unseating longtime Republican incumbent Dan Cronin from the chairmanship. The violist with the Chicago Jazz Philharmonic had no primary opponent that year.
LaPlante most likely has some significant residual name ID from that super-close race. We’ve seen it before. But she only reported having $5,311.50 in her campaign committee’s bank on December 31, most of it from herself.
* We all know that Dick Uihlein has a long history of throwing millions of dollars at losers here in Illinois and elsewhere. His rigid ideology dictates his checkbook…
For instance, between January and May 2020, Uihlein contributed $1.25 million to the Conservative Partnership Institute, a right-wing think tank founded by former Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) where Trump campaign attorney Cleta Mitchell was serving as senior legal fellow.
Mitchell, a veteran GOP operative, helped construct the campaign’s post-election legal strategy mostly behind the scenes. But she drew national attention in early January 2021 after she featured heavily in a taped phone call between then-President Donald Trump, his Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, and Georgia’s top election officials. Trump pressured the election officials in that now infamous call to “find” enough votes for him to win Georgia. (Meadows joined Mitchell at CPI after he left the White House in January.) […]
Another right-wing outlet, Sons of Liberty—the media outfit, not to be confused with a militia group of the same name—pocketed $300,000 from the supply chain magnate. The radio broadcast, which promoted claims of fraud after the election, is run by anti-LGBTQ activist-pastor Bradlee Dean, who has suggested that “homosexuals” are to blame for most child molestations in the country. Most recently, Sons of Liberty has been on an anti-vax kick, pushing outrageous claims, like that the COVID-19 vaccine is causing AIDS.
Uihlein also threw a $25,000 bone to conservative watchdog Judicial Watch, run by conspiracy theorist Tom Fitton. That organization also challenged the election results.
* I told subscribers about this curious Jesse Sullivan D-2 entry the other day…
His campaign filing also appeared to incorrectly list that he had another $10 million in an investment account for his campaign, but that figure was not backed by reports of the funds that he raised since launching his campaign last September.
Campaign reports show Giannoulias raised more than $658,000 while spending only $82,244 during the last quarter. Giannoulias, attempting a political comeback after losing a 2010 bid for U.S. Senate, has seen his campaign fund boosted by nearly $2.3 million in family loans.
Chicago City Clerk Anna Valencia, also seeking the Democratic secretary of state nomination, reported nearly $900,000 in cash available for her campaign on Jan. 1, raising more than $331,000 while spending more than $156,000.
A third announced candidate in the race, Chicago Ald. David Moore, 17th, listed $81,539 in cash on hand after raising more than $44,500 and spending more than $61,400, reports showed.
* Press release…
Jesse Reising, a sixth-generation son of Decatur, Illinois, former federal prosecutor, and founder of a successful veterans service organization announced his campaign for Congress in Illinois’ 13th Congressional District today.
“I’m running to represent the people of Central and Southern Illinois because political insiders in Illinois and Washington are failing us, and we need new leadership,” said Jesse Reising, Republican candidate for Congress. “The America we know and love as the Land of Opportunity won’t exist just a few years from now if we don’t change course. Americans are seven percent poorer today due to inflation, seeds of division are being sown in our children, and we’re facing skyrocketing crime rates – all while China and other foreign adversaries exploit our current administration’s weakness to gain economic and military advantage over us.”
Reising is a lifelong public servant who knows how to get results against the odds. After a serious neck injury in college football prevented Reising from realizing his dream of serving his country as a Marine, he found new ways to serve and get results, at home and abroad. Reising went to Afghanistan as a contractor and launched a veterans’ service organization called the Warrior-Scholar Project that has empowered thousands of veterans to succeed in college. He went on to prosecute criminals as a federal prosecutor.
He’s already scrubbed his Twitter account to remove the word “Chicago.” Before and after…
Heh.
* Press release…
The Illinois State Board of Elections this week named longtime staff member Bernadette Matthews the agency’s executive director.
Matthews had served as assistant executive director since 2017 and had been acting executive director since April 2021. Matthews’ appointment was approved by a unanimous, 8-0 vote from the board at its Jan. 19 meeting.
A graduate of The Catholic University of America and Seton Hall University School of Law, Matthews joined the Board of Elections as legal counsel in 2009.
* More…
* Column: Gorman takes on Morrison in GOP primary; third Democrat seeks Sims’ county board seat
* The Chicago Tribune editorial board has gone from being deviously smart to… well…
An editorial on the state’s new criminal justice legislation that ran on Page 7 on Jan. 18 misspelled the name of former House Speaker Mike Madigan. The Tribune regrets the error.
New House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch, now finishing his first year in the chair occupied by former Speaker Mike Madison
Hilarious.
* Also, this Tribune editorial was changed online without any sort of acknowledgement like the Madigan error was, so now their central claim about Bryan Traubert and his spouse doesn’t have near as much snap, although going after somebody’s spouse seems questionable to begin with here. The Tribunists claimed Traubert was the board chair, but that is no longer true. He sits on the 22-member board. But you do what you do, Tribbies…
But the bigger challenge, we think, will be reporting honestly on the powerful foundations with budgets in the billions that are part of this merger and that deserve the same scrutiny as government entities or corporations.
That’s compounded here both by the presence on the new Sun-Times board of directors of Kristen Mack, the managing director for communications for the MacArthur Foundation, and the identity of the recent chair of the WBEZ board, Bryan Traubert, husband of former U.S. Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker, the sister of Gov. J.B. Pritzker. The Pritzker Traubert Foundation is a supporter of this deal.
We’ve no reason to believe any of these high-achieving Chicagoans will impede editorial independence, but wise heads will look for certitude. Penny Pritzker, who has many talents, could run again for office or occupy a key government position in a future J.B. Pritzker administration. What happens then?
A Special Board Meeting has been tentatively scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 20, at 7 p.m. This meeting may or may not be held, pending the outcome of a court ruling we are anticipating will be made the afternoon of Jan. 20. […]
The court case in question was filed by attorney Tom DeVore against 145 school districts across the state, including District 181. The suit is seeking to prevent those school districts from requiring students to wear masks and from excluding students from school for COVID-related reasons unless school districts follow certain procedures under the Illinois Department of Public Health Act.
From the onset of the case, it was the opinion of our attorneys that the ruling would not be in favor of DeVore, and masks and COVID-related exclusions would continue to be required in schools under the Governor’s executive order.
Late last week, our attorneys advised us that due to the recent nature of the judge’s comments, she may rule in favor of DeVore and that her ruling would be effective immediately (Friday, Jan. 21).
The purpose of the special meeting is for the Board to consider the following resolution authorizing the administration to take necessary actions in the event that the outcome of the DeVore ligation results in an invalidation of the Governor’s disaster declarations and emergency orders which authorize masking, exclusion and other safety measures. The resolution would allow the administration to continue current COVID-19 risk mitigation measures notwithstanding the Court’s ruling.
Representing the governor in Sangamon County Court Wednesday, Attorney Thomas Verticchio said the issue is really about the testing requirements, not whether there’s a COVID-19 vaccine mandate or law.
“None of that is relevant,” Verticchio said. “There is no vaccine requirement.”
Plaintiff’s attorney Thomas DeVore said even forcing testing requires due process by law, allowing individuals to challenge such requirements in court. […]
The judge took the school staff’s request for a temporary restraining order against the mandate under advisement with a ruling expected soon. The judge will also consider a motion for class certification, allowing others to join the lawsuit .
If the judge rules that covid tests require some sort of due process, the legislature is going to have to step in fast.
* Other districts are voting to join the DeVore lawsuit if a class is certified. For instance…
The Clinton Board of Education Tuesday night approved joining a lawsuit against the Illinois State Board of Education to sue over its mandates on schools.
*** UPDATE *** Not today…
Sangamon County Judge Raylene Grischow took under advisement the case more than 700 parents have against 145 schools over masks and exclusion policies. She said not to expect a ruling before next Friday. pic.twitter.com/udgYuQrWrn
* IDPH reports 6,258 hospitalizations as of midnight last night, down from 6,507 reported yesterday. That now gives us a 7-day rolling average decrease of 2.07 percent. Yesterday’s 7-day rolling average decrease was 1.04 percent.
Illinois appears to be past the peak of its largest COVID-19 surge so far as cases and hospitalizations driven by the omicron variant are starting to decline, but officials urged continued caution as the state’s health care system remains under unprecedented strain.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Wednesday called the latest trend “a welcome change after precipitous increases over the prior seven weeks.” […]
“I want to be clear: I am cautiously optimistic about this decline,” Pritzker said during a news conference at the Thompson Center in the Loop. “But there are an awful lot of people still battling for their lives in hospitals across Illinois.”
* We don’t talk much about case numbers here for good reason. Dr. Ezike addressed this topic yesterday during the press conference when responding to questions about falling case numbers and hospitalizations…
So obviously, we are already seeing some of the things that we’d like to see in terms of downward trends in hospitalizations. Again, I am absolutely moving away from the cases because we know that that’s not even the full story, given all the home test and all the positives that are happening at home that are not recorded in any of our Department of Public Health databases. But the hospitalizations, you can’t hide a hospitalization. And so as we look at those hospitalizations and understand where those numbers are going, that is definitely a clear signal of the direction we’re moving in. And we can be moving downward now, but as you know, people have appropriately asked, ‘But what about the next one?’
With that being said, my brother Devin sent me this fascinating graph created by Eastern Illinois University’s Ryan Burge. It covers case trends in Illinois counties from December 15 to yesterday. While far from a perfect tracker, some counties still look like they are in big trouble. Click the pic for a larger image…
Burge said counties in blue are those where the total number of cases yesterday was at least 20 percent lower than that county’s worst day of the omicron surge. “That’s my attempt at trying to delineate which counties are over the peak now.”
* Advocate Aurora Health employees have posted pleas to get vaccinated on YouTube. Here’s one…
“The number one rule of virus economics,” economist Austan Goolsbee says: “If you want to help the economics, you’ve got to get control of the virus.”
The first half of 2021, when COVID seemed to abate, economic signs were good. But “delta and omicron stalled that progress, and indicators are pointing downwards as the impact of omicron continues. When the data come out for January, it’s going to show a slowdown,” Goolsbee, a professor of economics at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business and a former economic advisor to President Barack Obama, says on the latest episode of the A.D. Q&A podcast.
“Consumer spending, which had been pretty strong, dropped almost 2% for the month. That’s a pretty dramatic shift on a one-month basis. That’s before omicron kind of reached its peak. I’d think we’re going to get a slowdown from the next data.”
Jacking up interest rates right now would be like using a hammer to paint a house.
State Sen. Jason Barickman (R-Bloomington) says he and his wife, along with their daughter, tested positive for the virus last week. […]
“Started with a soar throat, led to a cough that developed into a deep, rough cough. I had fever spikes throughout the day for several days and an achy body and headache,” said Barickman.”
Barickman says he and his wife are vaccinated but have not received the booster shot.
* How do you make art during a pandemic? Carefully: Chicago’s theaters, concert halls, and other venues navigate mask-wearing for performers and patrons, testing for COVID and sometimes canceling shows amid the omicron surge.
I just want to add one comment, though, you asked about candidates. One thing I will say to you is, if you want to have the job of being governor, you should have to take questions from members of the media just like I do. And so I would hope that any candidate that is running and announced that they’re going to run is going to take questions, and not wait weeks after announcing to do so.
It’s true that the Republican candidates for all of the statewide offices have not yet or (for those who jumped into the race last year) rarely if ever publicly submit themselves to questions from reporters.
* DPI today…
Statewide GOP Candidates’ Silence on Trump, Biden Speaks Volumes
Today, on the one-year anniversary of President Biden’s inauguration, every Illinois Republican statewide candidate is choosing to remain silent about where they stand on the Big Lie that continues to undermine our democracy. Illinois voters deserve to know if these candidates want to take the Big Lie to Springfield or if they accept the results of free and fair elections.
All of the statewide Republican candidates, including Richard Irvin, Darren Bailey, Jesse Sullivan, Paul Schimpf, Gary Rabine, Avery Bourne, Stephanie Trussell, Carolyn Schofield, Aaron Del Mar, John Milhiser, Dan Brady, Tom Demmer, Shannon Teresi, and Steve Kim, must go on the record and answer basic questions about the 2020 presidential election. It should not be difficult for these candidates to tell voters who they voted for in the 2020 presidential election, if they accept Joe Biden as the legitimate winner, and if they will accept the electoral results in 2022.
Their continued silence speaks volumes about their priorities and willingness to undermine the democratic process. It is clear that with the modern Republican Party, our democracy takes a backseat to their political agenda.
Thoughts?
…Adding… He’s taken questions on most of these topics over the years, and he just held a long press conference yesterday and nobody asked the other questions on this list…
The Illinois Republican Party released the following statement in response to Governor JB Pritzker’s call for Republicans to answer questions:
“Republicans will not be lectured on answering questions by a Madigan-allied governor who refuses to answer basic questions about his own corruption and scandals. When JB Pritzker starts answering about indictments, patronage, tax fraud, dead veterans and state-sponsored child abuse, he’ll have just a tad more credibility.”
Every time JB Pritzker uses the phrase “answer questions,” we’ll send around another set of questions that JB Pritzker refuses to answer. Here are two questions for today:
When did JB Pritzker first learn that his DCFS was abusing children, and why hasn’t he fired the DCFS director?
January 19, 2021
State Representative Camille Lilly
cc: Governor J.B. Pritzker, Speaker Chris Welch
Chairperson Lilly,
Since the original letter I sent you more than a week ago requesting an immediate hearing into the ongoing failures at the Department of Children and Family Services, further damning incidents have come to light.
We have learned that DCFS Director Marc Smith has been held in contempt of a court yet again – his third time in less than a week. This time it was because the agency held a 17-year-old boy in a psychiatric facility for four months after he was ready to be placed in a more appropriate setting.
We found out that DCFS may have failed Damari Perry, the 6-year-old North Chicago boy who was murdered, allegedly by his mother. Before his death, DCFS opened two investigations into the family, including looking into threatening messages his mother wrote about harming the boy. Somehow, those investigations were closed and marked as “unfounded.”
It has also become clear that House Democratic Caucus refuses to act on this matter despite the fact that every day these issues at DCFS go unchecked is another day that the Pritzker Administration is failing kids in the care of the state of Illinois. Additionally, there has still been no Appropriations Human Services Committee scheduled to publicly investigate the shortcomings at DCFS.
The children of Illinois need a functioning DCFS to ensure their safety. As committee chair, it is your duty and obligation to schedule a hearing so the General Assembly can get to the bottom of the critical question of what is happening at DCFS. The Republican members are prepared to meet immediately. Please do not follow the path of silence the Governor is taking on this important issue.
Sincerely,
Jim Durkin
House Republican Leader
*** UPDATE *** The House just posted an Appropriations-Human Services Committee hearing for January 28th…
Amid the recently reported shortcomings of the Department of Children and Family Services, Chairwoman Lilly will be calling a public hearing on Friday, Jan. 28, to inquire about the department’s ongoing financial and operational issues.
“The current concerns with the DCFS have made it necessary to call a hearing so we can better understand the needs of the children and form holistic, long-term solutions. These problems have been going on for years and our focus is on the children and workers, so I request everyone in the hearing to conduct themselves in a serious, bipartisan fashion without losing focus,” said Lilly.
* Media advisory…
WHO: House Republican Leader Jim Durkin (R-Western Springs), Assistant House Republican Leader Ryan Spain (R-Peoria), Assistant House Republican Leader Deanne Mazzochi (R-Westmont), and State Representative Patrick Windhorst (R-Metropolis)
WHAT: House Republicans will discuss legislation filed to repeal the SAFE-T Act.
WHEN: 11:00 A.M. on Thursday, January 20th, 2022
WHERE: Zoom and Live on BlueRoomStream
* ILGOP…
Pritzker’s state-sponsored child abuse
Behind the violent crimes ravaging our state are the faces and names of victims. Instead of standing up for those victims – and working to prevent more people from becoming victims – Pritzker has signed legislation putting criminals first and victims last.
It’s no surprise Pritzker doesn’t care about the victims of crime. This is the same governor that let 36 veterans die of COVID at the LaSalle Veterans’ Home in 2020.
Now we learn that Pritzker’s administration has engaged in state-sponsored child abuse at the Department of Children and Family Services. JB Pritzker should be held accountable for what his administration has done.
When did Pritzker find out his agency director was abusing kids and why has he not fired his director?
* Republican gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey’s D-2 caught my eye last night. Despite reporting that he raised almost $500K in the quarter, Bailey actually ended the quarter with $200K less than he started it with…
* Let’s back up a bit. Restore Illinois was founded in 2018 to raise money to elect Eastern Bloc legislative candidates. It has reported raising $477,442 since it was founded, with $200K coming from that above-mentioned Bailey contribution and $319,800 since the start of the 4th quarter last year.
What happened last year? The remap. As part of Democratic redistricting, fellow Eastern Bloc Reps. Adam Niemerg (R-Dieterich) and Chris Miller (R-Oakland) were mapped into the same district, the 102nd. Eventually, Rep. Miller (no relation) agreed to move and run in the neighboring and vacant 101st House District. His spouse, US Rep. Mary Miller, was mapped in with fellow Republican Mike Bost, but then she decided to run against Rep. Rodney Davis.
There has been some paranoia within the Eastern Bloc about how agents of Rodney Davis are supposedly trying to gin up opponents against some of them. From Rep. Chris Miller earlier this month…
Never-Trumper Rodney Davis is looking for RINO candidates to run against every pro-life, pro-gun Republicans who supported Trump. Conservative Republicans will defeat liberals like Rodney Davis who stabbed President Trump in the back. The America First movement will not back down to the RINO establishment - we will defeat any and all liberal RINOs Rodney Davis recruits.
OK.
* Anyway, Restore Illinois collected $319,800 from three Eastern Bloc Members last quarter: $200K from Sen. Darren Bailey in October, $59,900 from Rep. Blaine Wilhour in November and $59,900 from Rep. Adam Niemerg in December. The PAC refunded $150,100 to Bailey a week after he made his contribution because, by law, it can only accept $59,900 from a candidate committee. Oops.
Almost all of the $179,700 Restore Illinois collected from those three members was then transferred to Rep. Miller shortly after each of the three contributions were received. Click here.
* Here’s where it gets kinda interesting. Neither Rep. Wilhour nor Rep. Niemerg had enough money in their accounts to make those $59,900 contributions to Restore Illinois.
Same with Rep. Niemerg, who started the fourth quarter with just $23,380.40 in the bank. Bailey maxed out to Niemerg with $59,900 that was reported on December 3rd, and Restore Illinois reported its $59.9K contribution from Niemerg on December 22nd.
So, essentially it appears as though Bailey was able to get $169,800 to his ally Rep. Chris Miller via a complicated series of maneuvers through other campaign accounts. It’s a mechanism that might’ve made Mike Madigan proud.
Except, they didn’t have to do it this way. Rep. Miller busted the caps on his race on November 22nd with a $100,001 contribution to himself. Bailey could’ve just written Miller a check for whatever he wanted.
Seems like a lot of work for nothing.
* Now, take out the refund from Restore Illinois and Bailey raised a net $349K. Of that, he contributed a net $230K to Restore Illinois and Eastern Bloc Reps. Wilhour, Niemerg and Dan Caulkins, or 66 percent of what he took in. You gotta wonder what all those folks who believe so strongly in Bailey’s message might think of him spending two-thirds of their money not on his “grass roots movement,” but on his pals’ races.
I’ve asked the Bailey campaign for comment.
* Meanwhile, Bailey spent about $410K on consultants and their services, staff, etc.
All of his spending and transfers gave Bailey a net burn rate of 183 percent by my calculations.
Hope he doesn’t try to run the state like that.
*** UPDATE *** Bailey campaign…
We are in a fight for the heart and soul of our state and the Republican Party. It’s evident the corruption in Springfield isn’t partisan, and we’re all tired of the political elites selling out working families and taxpayers. Darren Bailey was given money from generous donors who have indicated they not only want to take on extreme Democrats, but they want to take on RINOs. The money was then sent to several members of the conservative coalition and the Restore Illinois PAC. On top of defeating the establishment’s Democrat in the Republican Primary for Governor, and taking on Democrats in other races across the state, the Restore Illinois PAC is planning on challenging Republicans who have sold out working families and our conservative principles to vote with Democrats to raise taxes. This is the only way we can truly reform Springfield and restore Illinois.
Just over a year out from her presumed re-election bid, Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s latest financial totals are out, and it’s fair to call them distinctly mediocre.
Lightfoot pulled in a combined $538,000 for her two political funds, a big chunk of it raised on a recent campaign swing to California. […]
Lightfoot for Chicago has $1.215 million in the bank, more than enough to get a solid campaign up and running, and Light PAC another $351,000. […]
At a press conference today, the mayor disagreed her fundraising this quarter was lackluster: “Given that we were in a pandemic and the amount of challenges we were facing… I feel pretty good about where our fundraising is.”
Factor in campaign expenses, mainly for consultants and staff, and Lightfoot’s two campaign committees netted a combined $61,289.43 for the quarter.
A new candidate has announced he is seeking candidacy for the Republican nomination of State Representative for the new 108th District. This district covers all of Menard County, and portions of Sangamon, Christian, Macoupin, and Montgomery Counties.
Wayne Rosenthal, a Republican from Morrisonville, says that he has thrown in his hat to run for the new 108th District. Rosenthal has received several endorsements including Congressman Rodney Davis, Darin LaHood, and Mike Bost. He has also been supported by State Representatives Avery Bourne, Tim Butler and former State Rep Mike Murphy.
Rosenthal says that he and his family are excited to announce that he is running. He says he knows the area well, and has served the citizens for many years including the Illinois Air National Guard, coaching youth baseball, and serving in the General Assembly. ROsenthal also says that he plans to work hard, share his conservative vision for the state, and earn every vote in this election.
Rosenthal left the House to run IDNR for Gov. Bruce Rauner.
A doctor from Morton says he’s running for an open Illinois House seat that includes much of the district now represented by retiring state Rep. Keith Sommer.
Emergency physician and anesthesiologist Dr. Bill Hauter plans to run in the redrawn 87th House District. Hauter, a Republican, is a member of the Tazewell County Board. The 87th District includes portions of Tazewell, McLean, Logan, Sangamon, Macon, and DeWitt counties.
Hauter works primarily as an anesthesiologist in Peoria. He picks up shifts as an emergency physician as needed; over the past few years, he says, he has been needed to treat COVID-19 patients on a regular basis. Because of this, Hauter said, he can bring a new perspective to the General Assembly as they make decisions about the pandemic.
While he supports vaccination, Hauter is against vaccine mandates. […]
Sommer and Hauter are longtime friends, says Hauter. Sommer previously endorsed Hauter in his run for Tazewell County Board, and the pair have worked together on adoption reform legislation in the past. Hauter has an adopted child from Bulgaria, and his wife Shelley is the director of the Living Alternatives Pregnancy Resource Center.
* Press release…
Today, EMILY’s List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, endorsed three women for election in Illinois, including Juliana Stratton for lieutenant governor, Susana Mendoza for comptroller, and Anna Valencia for secretary of state. Laphonza Butler, president of EMILY’s List, released the following statement:
“These groundbreaking women have been lifelong advocates for their communities, championing everything from youth development and empowerment programs, to animal welfare and social services initiatives. EMILY’s List is confident that under their leadership, Illinois will be best positioned to recover from the impact of COVID-19 and become a place where all people can flourish.”
“It’s only day three of his campaign, and Richard Irvin is already being slammed by Illinoisans — including those in his own party,” said DGA Senior Communications Advisor Christina Amestoy. “Irvin has done a complete 180 from praising Gov. JB Pritzker to running a Rauner reboot campaign. Even if Irvin survives the bruising GOP primary, he won’t stand a chance against Gov. Pritzker, who Irvin himself agreed is ‘a great leader.’”
There’s been a lot of hype about the political operatives behind Richard Irvin’s GOP gubernatorial bid having previously led former Gov. Bruce Rauner’s campaign and the effort to defeat the graduated income tax.
But recent campaign donations show that two big donors to those efforts are behind Jesse Sullivan’s GOP bid for governor.
Richard Colburn and Michael Keiser have donated $50,000 and $5,000 respectively to Sullivan’s campaign.
Colburn gave $500,000 to the group that helped defeat the graduated income tax measure backed by Gov. JB Pritzker, and he gave $10,000 to Citizens for Judicial Fairness, which helped defeat former Illinois Supreme Court Justice Thomas Kilbride’s retention effort.
Keiser gave $25,000 to the effort to stop the graduated income tax plan. And both he and Colburn donated to Rauner’s 2018 bid for governor.
Sullivan is reporting $9.1 million in the bank, according to the latest campaign filings, though the bigger news is that he has yet to name a running mate.
He can’t gather signatures until he can list a lieutenant governor on his petitions. Playbook hears that announcement will be soon.
Not sure what that’s supposed to mean. Sullivan got a bit of cash from two people who also hated the graduated income tax and a Democratic Supreme Court justice and that’s supposed to show… what?
Also, she’s right about the running mate thing. Everyone else has a head start on him. Subscribers know more.
* Press release…
Illinois Supreme Court to Hear Chicago Alderman’s Appeal to Stop Elected Officials From Using Campaign Cash to Pay for Criminal Defense Fees
Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25th) filed a complaint centered around ex-Ald. Danny Solis in 2019
WHO:
Alderman Byron Sigcho-Lopez, 25th Ward
Adolfo Mondragon, Esq.
WHAT:
In Byron Sigcho-Lopez v. State of Ill. Bd. of Elections et al., No. 127253, the Illinois Supreme Court will hear arguments from Adolfo Mondragon, Esq. on behalf of Chicago Alderman Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25th Ward) to reverse a lower court’s decision dismissing Sigcho-Lopez’s complaint that elected officials should not use campaign cash to pay for criminal defense attorneys.
Sigcho-Lopez filed an appeal in May 2021 to the Illinois Supreme Court from a decision out of the 1st District Court of Appeals, challenging whether the Campaign Disclosure Act of the election code allows politicians to use campaign funds for criminal defense fees.
Sigcho-Lopez was elected in 2019 to succeed former Alderman Danny Solis, who has spent more than $220,000 from his 25th Ward campaign fund to pay for his defense team while under federal investigation.
A bill filed by state Rep. Charles Meier aims to combat voter fraud by allowing a county clerk the ability to cancel a voter registration if they do not think the person is a qualified voter.
House Bill 4310 was filed in December by state Rep. Charles Meier, R-Highland. The bill seeks to address issues with the state’s mail-in vote system and would give county clerks the ability to turn down a voter registration if the clerk believes the registration is fake or if the voter has passed away or moved.
“Illinois is notorious for having a lot of dead people vote,” Meier said. “It seems kind of amazing there is always accusations of this … and what simpler way to clean up the process than by using your county clerks.”
Illinois may be notorious for that, but it’s not been shown to actually be a thing that happens in real life beyond a few isolated incidents.
Review of jury summons. If, upon review of the list of returned juror summons under Section 9.3 of the Jury Commission Act, the county clerk is of the opinion that any person registered is not a qualified voter or has ceased to be a qualified voter, he or she shall send a notice through the United States mail to such person, requiring him or her to appear before the county clerk for a hearing within 5 days after the date of mailing the notice and show cause why his or her registration shall not be cancelled. If such person fails to appear within such time as provided, his or her registration shall be cancelled. If such person does appear, he or she shall execute an affidavit similar in every respect to the affidavit required of applicants under Section 6-29.
Not onerous at all. /s
…Adding… Press release…
Today, the Madison County Democrats and the St. Clair County Democrats announced their endorsement of Nikki Budzinski in Illinois’ 13th Congressional District. Madison and St. Clair Counties make up significant portions of the newly drawn 13th Congressional District.
The Madison and St. Clair County Democrats’ endorsement is the latest in a broad coalition of support that Budzinski is building, including U.S. Senator Dick Durbin, U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth, EMILY’s List, State Treasurer Mike Frerichs, Rep. “Chuy” García, Rep. Sean Casten, Rep. Cheri Bustos, Rep. Jan Schakowsky, Rep. Bill Foster, Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, State Senator Christopher Belt, Assistant Majority Leader Jay Hoffman, House Democratic Caucus Chair LaToya Greenwood, State Representative Katie Stuart, UFCW Local 881, Illinois Federation of Teachers (IFT), The United Brotherhood of Carpenters (UBC), SEIU State Council, United Steelworkers (USW), IBEW Locals 51, 146, 193, 309, 601 and 649, Communications Workers of America (CWA), Sheet Metal Air Rail and Transportation Workers’ Union, Heat and Frost Insulators, Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU), Associated Fire Fighters of Illinois (AFFI), Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers (BAC) Local 8, Elect Democratic Women, Pastor T. Ray McJunkins, County Chairs Bill Houlihan (Sangamon), Mark Pohlman (Jersey), Paul “Snow” Herkert (Calhoun), Ben Curtin (Christian) and Pam Monetti (Macoupin).
* The word “Griffin” is not mentioned once, of course. How are they gonna fund these candidates? Irvin has just $164,888.35 in his municipal campaign account. Such a mystery…
Illinois Republicans have joined together on an organized statewide slate of candidates behind Richard Irvin for Governor and Avery Bourne for Lieutenant Governor. They will be joined by John Milhiser (Secretary of State), Tom Demmer (Treasurer), Shannon Teresi (Comptroller), and Steve Kim (Attorney General) in an effort to end the culture of corruption that has permeated Illinois government through the Madigan Machine politicians that have filled our state’s top executive offices for decades.
The announcement of the slate of candidates comes on the heels of Irvin’s historic campaign kick-off earlier this week, promising to not only clean up corruption in Springfield, but also fight crime and cut taxes and spending.
“I’m the only candidate for governor to take on Mike Madigan and win, and I know that Madigan will keep running our state until we replace his allies with true public servants,” Irvin said. “That’s what this slate brings to the table: candidates with the experience and qualifications necessary to take our state back.”
Irvin’s running mate, Avery Bourne, believes this slate will restore public trust in government, something that has been waning for decades but especially over the last few years as federal indictments have continued to fall on elected officials.
“Each candidate on our slate has the experience and dedication Illinois needs to root out the corruption that is so ingrained in this state,” said Bourne. “Together, we are committed to fixing our state. We will work together to reduce crime, fight corruption, and return fiscal responsibility for the people of this great state.”
John Milhiser is running for Secretary of State and previously served as the Sangamon County State’s Attorney and the U.S. Attorney for the Central District of Illinois, overseeing federal investigations in 46 counties. He was confirmed with bipartisan support in the U.S. Senate, including Senators Durbin and Duckworth. John has investigated and prosecuted corrupt politicians, murderers, violent criminals, child predators, drug dealers, embezzlers, and human traffickers. As Secretary of State he will make sure we never go back to the history of corruption for which that office has been a crucible.
“Illinois state government has had a pervasive culture of corruption for decades,” Milhiser said. “It’s past time for our state to be led by individuals who will work to rebuild public trust in our leaders. That’s why I support Richard Irvin and Avery Bourne. Richard has a strong record of working for the betterment of his community, has honorably served our nation, and will be a governor the people of Illinois will be proud of.”
Tom Demmer serves as Deputy Republican Leader in the Illinois House, representing the 90th District. As the Republican caucus’ expert in exposing Madigan-Pritzker budget gimmicks, he is a leading voice for meaningful fiscal reform that will put Illinois back on the right path. An innovative, out of the box thinker, Tom’s experience will be crucial in guiding the state’s financial future as our next Treasurer.
“Richard Irvin understands that the tax burden on Illinois families is a primary reason why we are losing more and more people to neighboring states every year,” Demmer said. “Avery Bourne is a tremendous leader, an advocate for Illinoisans, and someone whose love for this state is palpable. Richard and Avery are the people we need in Springfield to fix our broken finances, provide tax relief, and guide us into the future.”
Shannon Teresi is a Certified Public Accountant, a Certified Fraud Examiner, an internal auditor, and currently serves as the McHenry County Auditor. Under her leadership, the county has cut fraud and abuse out of the budget, and consistently earned AAA bond ratings. As the next Comptroller, Shannon will ensure that the financial reporting of our state is appropriately audited, will cut out corruption just as she has done in McHenry County, and will make sure that taxpayers know exactly where their dollars are going.
“The Madigan Machine and their career politicians have had the opportunity to change the trajectory of this state, and instead have stood in the way of progress for their own benefit,” Teresi said. “Richard Irvin and Avery Bourne will bring new, innovative leadership to our state government, reducing our tax burden and meeting the needs of families like yours and mine. Together, we will root out the corruption that has become a way of life for Madigan Machine Politicians and I’m proud to stand with them for the future of Illinois”.
Steve Kim is running for Attorney General because crime in this state is out of control. He has advised leaders at all levels of the Illinois government, including Senator Mark Kirk and Governor Jim Edgar. He has adjudicated hundreds of civil rights cases in his position on the Illinois Human Rights Commission. Steve works with companies all over the globe, and has seen the importance of anti-corruption policies, the rule of law, and public safety. Steve’s wide ranging experience makes him the ideal candidate to bring new ideas to the table on curbing the crime and corruption for which Illinois is globally known.
“Richard Irvin will be a governor who understands that public safety and reducing crime has far reaching benefits to our communities across Illinois, especially immigrant and minority communities which are most impacted,” Kim said. “Crime in this state is out of control. Richard has stood with law enforcement to curtail violence and has a proven track record in Aurora. I know that Richard will fight corruption and rein in crime for the betterment of all Illinoisans, and that’s why I’m honored to stand with him.”
Irvin’s new campaign committee, by the way, has the same treasurer as most of the rest of the slate. Les Williamson of Houston, Texas is a professional fundraiser with The Larrison Group.
Irwin’s 2021 municipal budget proposal ever so slightly reduced the Aurora police department’s spending below 2020 levels, but the funding appeared to increased very slightly by the time it passed.
“I applaud the 102nd General Assembly for taking decisive and life-saving actions that will, among other things, strengthen enforcement and hopefully prevent unnecessary tragedies in the future,” said Aurora Mayor Richard C. Irvine. “As the Governor signs HB0562 today, may we remember the lives and legacies of Russell Beyer, Vicente Juarez, Clayton Parks, Josh Pinkard and Trevor Wehner who devastating lost their lives at Henry Pratt. While we can’t change the past, we can change laws for the future, and I do hope this brings some measure of comfort to their families, knowing that their lives were not lost in vain.”
Chesney Opposes “Anti-Gun” Amendments to House Bill 562
State Representative Andrew Chesney voted NO, and urged his colleagues to do the same, on an anti-gun bill sent the Illinois House for consideration during a special session on June 16th.
“I filed legislation to fix the FOID problems by eliminating the unconstitutional FOID system,” said Chesney from Springfield on Wednesday. “Instead, gun-grabbing politicians are doubling down on bloated bureaucracies that serve no one well; especially the unprecedented number of innocent Chicago residents hunted down by freed felons in gun-free zones.”
*** UPDATE *** DPI…
Today, billionaire Ken Griffin’s slate of Republicans announced their coordinated effort to take Illinois back to the Rauner years. And while the slate isn’t shy about their desire to drag our state backwards, they are being shy about making any actual appearances in public.
As opposed to making themselves available to voters and the media, this silent slate has hidden from the public for weeks. Not a single candidate has done an interview or public event since announcing and have instead chosen to hide behind consultant-crafted videos and meaningless social posts.
It is patently unacceptable that those seeking to lead our state would hide from reporters because they don’t want to answer basic questions like: Did you vote for Donald Trump? Do you want to overturn Roe v Wade? What promises has Ken Griffin made you?
Instead of proposing real policy solutions that help working families, these candidates are more of the same. Empty words, incendiary rhetoric, and no clue how to make Springfield work for working families.
The public deserves to know who is really pulling the strings of the Rauner Reboot. Each day the Griffin Slate continues to avoid scrutiny, we can only assume they have something to hide.
* I’ve been over this with subscribers and briefly here on the blog. Tribune last week…
Despite the urging of Illinois educators and strong bipartisan support from lawmakers, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said he plans to veto a bill that would grant school employees administrative leave for COVID-19-related sick days for themselves and their children.
In a Tuesday letter to the leaders of the state’s two largest teachers unions, the Illinois Education Association and the Illinois Federation of Teachers, Pritzker said, “I have been very clear in stating that I will veto HB2778.”
“While that continues to be my plan, I have also said that I agree with and support the purpose of the bill: keeping teachers and students safe and in school during this unprecedented global pandemic,” Pritzker said.
The School Employee Benefit and Wage Protection bill, which passed with strong bipartisan support from lawmakers in October, was championed by the state’s teachers unions, who said school employees with young families were being forced to use all of their sick days if they or their children contracted the virus or were required to quarantine.
* From our old friend Emily Miller at the governor’s office…
Hi Rich,
Some recent newspaper articles left several people I know scratching their heads wondering why the Governor would veto HB2778, a bill giving teachers paid leave to deal with Covid-19-related absences. I thought it might be useful to straighten this out by just explaining the Governor’s actual position.
To be clear: the Governor supports giving paid administrative time off to teachers who need it for Covid-19-related reasons and he hopes to sign a bill that achieves that goal. The Governor also supports doing everything we can to keep kids and teachers safe and in the classroom. The language in the bill achieves the first goal, but not the second. The Governor’s team is in the middle of negotiations with the IEA and the IFT to agree on language that achieves both goals.
As written, the bill provides unlimited paid time off to teachers who have chosen not to get vaccinated. It is unsustainable and bad public policy to give people who make the choice not to get vaccinated unlimited paid time off while they continue to willfully expose themselves to a virus that kills people and packs our state’s hospitals, limiting access to healthcare across the state. The science is very clear and there is not room for debate: vaccines are a vital tool in preventing the deadly effects of Covid-19, and those who take the steps to be fully vaccinated against this virus are doing their part to keep everyone safe.
It should be noted that some people don’t get to choose not to take the vaccine—they are medically prevented from taking it. And those people need protection. That’s why federal law prevents discrimination against those who have medical exemptions, and federal law extends to the state of Illinois. The Governor supports paid administrative leave for Covid-19 related absences for those teachers as well.
While there were technical changes the Governor’s team proposed to clarify the bill and make it easier to implement, the only real sticking point is whether, as a matter of public policy, we can grant unlimited paid time off to people who choose not to get vaccinated during an ongoing global pandemic. The Governor does not believe that is a sustainable position.
Most teachers are fully vaccinated. Fully vaccinated teachers are protecting themselves and their communities and are doing everything they can to teach students in person during this stressful, unprecedented time of uncertainty. Our hope is that the bill’s proponents will compromise on this point so the Governor can sign a bill that gives paid Covid-19 time to the vast majority of teachers and prioritizes keeping teachers and children safe and in school.
This administration has worked closely with school districts and teachers throughout this pandemic to keep everyone safe, and we remain committed to that collaborative approach. If we are able to reach agreement, we’ll work with proponents and legislators to get a new bill moving and signed as soon as possible.
I hope that helps clear things up.
Stay healthy,
Emily
I happen to strongly agree that it would be bad policy to give unlimited paid leave to willfully unvaccinated public employees.
The flipside is that I realized over the past few days that I personally know some vaccinated and boosted school district workers who are quickly burning through their paid sick leave as omicron infects one after another of their children, requiring them to be home. And nobody knows when the General Assembly will return.
But, on the other hand, there is a retroactive paid leave clause in the current bill. However, can they pass it?
I blame the sponsors for not working this out in advance. But that’s cold comfort to the people who may be about to have no banked paid sick leave.
And they can’t do an amendatory veto because there are other technical problems which, I’m told, can’t be fixed that way.
So, bottom line for me right now is they need an agreement pronto and the GA needs to get itself back to town to pass it. Toot suite.
Your thoughts on this?
*** UPDATE *** Press release…
The Illinois Council of Community College Presidents appreciates Governor Pritzker’s request for a collaborative and inclusive approach to addressing the concerns that have been raised regarding HB2778. This collaborative spirit is a long-standing tradition of collective bargaining at the local level, between an individual community college district’s elected board and their local bargaining units. This has allowed agreements regarding wages, benefits and working conditions to be addressed within the context of the specific institution and the region it serves. Unfortunately, HB2778 was introduced as a statewide approach to legislating COVID-19 working conditions without input from Illinois community colleges.
This muted the experienced voices of institutions serving more than 600,000 Illinois residents each year through credit and non-credit courses. We hope that community colleges can engage in collaborative discussions surrounding the state’s approach to proposed legislation impacting community college employees.
The Illinois Council of Community College Presidents stands ready to work together with Governor Pritzker, legislators and statewide union leaders to continue encouraging vaccination and ensure those taking appropriate steps to vaccinate and protect themselves, and our students, against COVID-19 are afforded reasonable accommodations to address COVID related incidents.
House Speaker Chris Welch marked his one-year anniversary as his chamber’s top leader with a series of news media interviews last week. One of the questions I asked was what his legislative district’s constituents were talking to him about the most.
“The No. 1 issue in my district, and this is across the state, is crime,” Speaker Welch said.
Welch said he is telling people in his district that he’s working on legislation to address carjacking, organized retail theft and other crime-related issues. He also said he’s talking to mayors and police chiefs in his suburban district about their ideas.
And Welch said he wants to put money into the state budget. “I want to make sure our police are properly funded, properly trained, properly educated.”
When told about Speaker Welch’s response, House Republican Leader Jim Durkin said, in part, “Democrats must just be getting their polling in, showing how disastrous their defund the police and anti-crime victim agenda has been with Illinois voters. Talk is nice, but actions are more important. Just last week the Democrats again passed a law that gives accused criminals more rights than victims. It is no surprise that the No. 1 issue in Speaker Welch’s district is crime, because Democrats have created a consequence-free Illinois that has emboldened criminals.”
I’m hearing from people in both parties that current poll results are extremely ominous for Democrats, particularly in the suburbs. Welch told me he’s “well aware of the political climate as we head into the election season.”
I mentioned that former House Speaker Michael Madigan was often criticized for living in 1994, when Democrats were swept out of office after a massive, racialized anti-crime backlash. But, in a somewhat bizarre twist, it was Madigan’s strong support for the Black Caucus’ criminal justice reform “pillar” as part of his last-minute attempt to hold onto power a year ago that resulted in the controversial bill’s passage. That bill has intensified the Democrats’ political woes.
“We’re going to be fine in 2022, but it’s not going to be given to us. We’ve got to do the work,” Welch said. “And there’s a lot of difference between 2022 and 1994. There’s a lot of ways to communicate to voters that exist now that didn’t exist in 1994.”
Also, the Republicans drew the legislative district map ahead of that 1994 national blowout. Madigan’s Democrats managed to hold on to the majority during the 1992 race, but lost it two years later (and then regained it in 1996).
As far as Leader Durkin is concerned, Welch was completely dismissive. “Leader Durkin has proven that he can’t get past Speaker Madigan,” Welch said, adding that Durkin “is stuck in a partisan fight in his own mind, and so we’ve got to find other ways to work with members on his side of the aisle.”
Welch is disclosing he has $12 million cash on hand in his caucus and personal campaign committee accounts. Madigan’s standard election cycle budget was $30 million, but Welch’s operation also focuses on helping members raise money for themselves, which is not something Madigan ever did. Even so, he has a long way to go.
“There was never a fundraising apparatus within the caucus’ political side,” Welch said. “We’re also helping our members with their political messaging. … From a social media standpoint, we’re providing them with content. That’s never been done before.” He also claimed his members “have had quite a successful year when it comes to fundraising.”
And with petition circulation kicking off last week, I asked Speaker Welch what will happen if any of his House Democratic members attracts a primary opponent. Will he step in to help with money and people?
“I have told our caucus members that it is my plan in every sense of the word to protect incumbent members,” Welch said. “And we will do that.”
By the way, I also asked Senate President Don Harmon what people in his district are telling him.
“What I’m hearing most,” Harmon said, “is a longing for something that resembles ‘getting back to normal.’ It is most often voiced in growing concerns about crime, schools and COVID.”
As we know too well, homicides and shooting incidents in Champaign-Urbana were off the charts in 2021. Champaign reported 16 deaths and 259 reports of shots fired. Urbana had 10 deaths and 115 confirmed shootings. Just 10 years ago such numbers were unthinkable.
And Champaign-Urbana isn’t the only downstate community gushing insane gunfire numbers. Peoria’s 34 homicides last year, a local record, were more than twice as many as Champaign, which is about three-quarters the population of Peoria.
Springfield had “only” a dozen homicides last year — slightly above its five-year average — but it had 68 victims of gunfire and an astonishing 308 reports of “shots fired.” That was after the Gun Violence Task Force, an aggressive effort to recover illegal firearms, swept up 421 guns in Springfield, an increase from the 269 retrieved in 2020.
Rockford had 24 homicides last year, down from a record 36 in 2020. Danville had six gun homicides — but 37 victims of gun violence. Still, that was an improvement from the 55 shootings in 2019. Decatur had eight homicides — but 179 shootings, more than three times the number just five years earlier.
* The January high for hospitalizations was 7,380 on January 12th. That number dropped to 6,695 yesterday, a 9.3 percent decrease. Here’s what it looks like…
That puts the 7-day rolling average decrease at 1.04 percent. The 14-day rolling average decrease is 0.15 percent.
Since Dec. 7, 2021, the date when the state’s first omicron case was found in Chicago, the city’s Black residents are dying at rates four times higher than Asians, three times higher than Latinos and nearly two times higher than white residents, according to WBEZ’s analysis. A total of 97 Black Chicagoans died of COVID-19 during the seven-day period ending Jan. 9, 2022 — more than at any point since May 11, 2020.
Black Chicagoans aren’t the only demographic that has been particularly vulnerable since the arrival of omicron. Older suburban Cook County residents have also seen their seven-day COVID-19 death totals reach levels not witnessed in more than a year. According to WBEZ’s analysis, a total of 181 suburban Cook County residents 60 years and older died from COVID-19 during the week ending Jan. 9, 2022. That’s the highest seven-day total for that group since Dec. 24, 2020.
Throughout the pandemic in suburban Cook County, older white residents have died at far higher rates than any other group. White residents who are 60 years and older account for just 6.4% of the total population in suburban Cook County, but they make up 53.7% of all COVID-19 deaths among Cook County residents outside Chicago during the pandemic, according to WBEZ’s analysis.
The fast-moving omicron variant may cause less severe disease on average, but COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. are climbing and modelers forecast 50,000 to 300,000 more Americans could die by the time the wave subsides in mid-March.
The seven-day rolling average for daily new COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. has been trending upward since mid-November, reaching nearly 1,700 on Jan. 17 — still below the peak of 3,300 in January 2021. COVID-19 deaths among nursing home residents started rising slightly two weeks ago, although still at a rate 10 times less than last year before most residents were vaccinated.
*** UPDATE *** Press release…
Governor JB Pritzker announced today the federal government has granted the state’s request for medical staffing assistance for UChicago Medicine Ingalls Memorial Hospital. Under the agreement, a 26-person National Disaster Medical System (NDMS) team, including physicians, pharmacists, nurses, paramedics, and other specialists have been deployed to support UChicago Medicine Ingalls doctors and nurses as they treat COVID-19 patients and other patients in Harvey. This federal surge team will be available for 14-days to help reduce the strain on the region’s hospitals.
* More…
* Henry County’s COVID cases up 10.4%; Illinois cases plummet 11%: Across Illinois, cases fell in 19 counties, with the best declines in Cook County, with 69,479 cases from 95,907 a week earlier; in Will County, with 9,959 cases from 12,450; and in DuPage County, with 14,715 cases from 17,063.
* Why Omicron Is More Likely to Kill Americans: Just 63 percent of Americans are fully vaccinated, 37 percent are boosted. That leaves 122 million people with, at best, fading natural immunity to COVID. It should come as no surprise that Omicron is tearing through this large, mostly unprotected group.
* Covid pandemic ‘nowhere near over’, new variants likely to emerge: WHO chief: “In some countries, cases seem to have peaked, which gives hope that the worst of this latest wave is done with, but no country is out of the woods yet. I remain particularly concerned about many countries that have low vaccination rates, as people are many times more at risk of severe illness and death if they’re unvaccinated,” said the WHO chief.
Today, the Democratic Party of Illinois announced it raised a total of $701,723.68 in the fourth quarter of 2021, including $251,903.27 in federal fundraising and $449,820.41 in non-federal fundraising. The DPI began 2022 with a total of $3,918,603.77 on hand, resources it will use to support all Democrats as it heads into the critical 2022 midterm election year. The nearly 650 unique donors to the DPI in the fourth quarter set a highwater mark for the party as it continues to expand its outreach under the leadership of Chair Rep. Robin Kelly.
“I want to thank everyone who chipped in and helped us finish the year strong,” said Democratic Party of Illinois Chair Rep. Robin Kelly. “I couldn’t be prouder of the work we’ve done together to strengthen our party as we enter 2022. We have the resources we need to play a much-needed support role for Democratic campaigns up and down the ticket, and we look forward to doing the work necessary to deliver for all Democrats in November and beyond.”
…Adding… I told subscribers several days ago that Cassandra Tanner Miller was being touted as a potential congressional candidate. She has now filed paperwork with the FEC and is running in the 11th CD, which is currently represented by Democrat Bill Foster. The district is a lot more swingy than it was and Republicans have been worried that Catalina Lauf was too hardcore to be a good candidate against Foster. Miller (no relation) was in the news last year for “Colton’s Law”…
Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed a package of legislation Friday aimed at combatting domestic violence, sparked in part by the death of 18-month-old Colton Miller, whose father broke into his estranged wife’s Joliet home two years ago and asked “are you ready to die today?”
…Adding… Oops. Forgot to post this…
Cook Dem committeepersons received an urgent message last night to stop circulating the Raoul/Mendoza/Frerichs petitions due to an error. Oops! New sheets won't be distributed until Wednesday. As if things aren't bad enough out there with covid and the weather. pic.twitter.com/Idd1q8PJzw
* I talked about this with subscribers earlier today, but here’s the press release…
Candidate for Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias has won the endorsement of one of the most solidly Democratic-affiliated county organizations in the state.
“Alexi will continue Jesse White’s extraordinary legacy and fight for working families in Springfield,” said Bob Sprague, Chairman of the influential St. Clair County Democratic Organization.
“Alexi stands out as the best candidate to lead this important office that interacts with the public more than any other and plays an important role in registering voters, issuing drivers licenses and serving as the state’s chief librarian,” he added. “He has a plan to modernize and improve every aspect of the office to make services easier to access and more convenient for all Illinoisans.”
St. Clair County has played a pivotal role in Democratic politics in recent years with nearly every endorsed candidate winning their primary election contest. In 2018, Governor JB Pritzker won an overwhelming 76 percent of the primary vote in St. Clair County, the highest vote-getting percentage of any county in the state.
St. Clair County has delivered Democratic votes in general elections as well. It was one of just five Illinois counties where Democrats Hillary Clinton, JB Pritzker, and Joe Biden each received over 50 percent of the General election vote in their respective races.
Pritzker went on to win the general election in 2018 with nearly 100,000 votes cast in St. Clair County, defeating then Gov. Bruce Rauner 52,603 to 40,524.
In 2020, nearly 130,000 votes were cast for U.S. President with Joe Biden winning with 68,325 votes to Donald Trump’s 57,150. Four years earlier, more than 122,000 ballots were cast with Hillary Clinton winning over Trump 60,756 to 53,857.
“I’m honored to have received the endorsement of this legendary organization of Democrats who work hard to ensure they elect candidates who share their values,” Giannoulias said. “The St. Clair Democrats have a long history of endorsing successful candidates, working tirelessly on the campaign trail and getting out the vote for candidates they believe in when it matters most. My campaign is excited to work with them in both the primary and general elections and serve St. Clair County residents as Secretary of State.”
* Global Strategy Group is a good pollster. The push questions, however, can be misleading and Mark Maxwell was right to point that out…
The Democratic primary race for Secretary of State is a “dead heat,” according to a generic poll sponsored by the campaign for Anna Valencia, the current City Clerk of Chicago.
A Global Strategy Group poll of 600 likely primary voters found 58% of people surveyed were still “undecided” with six months to go before the election. Valencia and former Illinois Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias tied at 13% each. Chicago Alderman David Moore came in last with 12%.
However, once the pollsters started introducing likely primary voters to the glowing parts of Valencia’s personal backstory, her poll numbers, unsurprisingly, shot up.
Newman, an ad agency exec and business consultant by trade, has emphasized bread-and-butter issues such as expanded health coverage. That’s won her the backing of SEIU and other progressive groups, and the support of fellow members of Congress known for advocating on such issues, including Rashida Tlaib and Ro Khanna. But campaign aides suggest she’ll tack to the middle in the primary, emphasizing her role on the House Small Business Committee and pitching herself as a hard worker who knows how to deliver for constituents.
Team Casten counters that he, too, has a progressive voting record in Washington and underlines that, despite the COVID pandemic, he has been able to hold more than 50 town hall sessions with constituents. Casten also has been particularly outspoken, even by Democratic terms, in talking about the Jan. 6 riots and what’s needed to protect U.S. democracy as Donald Trump plans a potential bid to regain the presidency in 2024.
Casten, who has some personal wealth, is expected to be better funded—particularly if Jewish groups still upset about the fact that Newman was one of only eight House Democrats to vote against funding the Israeli Iron Dome missile defense system. (Newman aides reply that voters in the district didn’t want to spend $1 billion on the project, given other needs.)
Newman, in turn, may end up having more energy out in the precincts from party activists who tend to dominate primary elections. That potential advantage could be diminished if groups such as the 19th Ward Regular Democratic Organization get involved. Ditto Lipinski, who says he hasn’t decided yet whether to endorse but certainly could stir the waters some.
* Meanwhile…
Today, Congressman Sean Casten announced he raised over $700,067 in the fourth quarter of 2021. The campaign’s impressive fundraising haul is its highest off-year fourth quarter ever and brings its total cash on hand to over $1.5 Million. The campaign has raised $1.96 million this cycle and has a lifetime average online donation of $41.38.
* And…
Congresswoman Marie Newman announced that she had received endorsements from The Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen, Sprinkler Fitters Local 281 UA, Riggers, Machinery Movers & Machinery Erectors Local 136, Transport Workers Union Local 512, the National Association of Letter Carriers Branch 4016, and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) District Lodge 19, the Railroad District.
* Press release…
- Today, the Judge Rochford for Supreme Court campaign reported raising more than $262,000 in the fourth quarter of 2021 and ended the year with $215,000 on hand in the race for the Second District of the Illinois Supreme Court. The campaign enters the election year in a position of strength, having outraised their nearest opponent by more than $150,000 in 2021 and ending the year with $110,000 more on hand. The campaign received support from a broad coalition of legal professionals, organized labor, elected officials, and small dollar individual donors from across the district.
* I had a brief bit on this Greg Hinz piece in a long Friday post, but it deserves more attention…
A major new candidate is pondering whether to enter the race to succeed retiring U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush, and his entry could shake up the contest.
In a phone interview, Jonathan Jackson—the son of civil rights leader, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, and the brother of former Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr.—said he not only is seriously considering running, but he’s checking with potential fundraisers, staff and big-name allies about whether to do so. […]
Jackson’s family legacy is not all positive. His brother, Jesse Jackson Jr., left office in disgrace from an adjoining district after being convicted on federal charges of spending $750,000 in campaign funds on personal luxury items.
“I love my brother,” Jackson said when asked about that. “I think he had admitted his mistakes, and repaid his debt to society.”
* She’s been a bit busy with other things, so we’ll see what happens when she starts really cranking up…
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot @LoriLightfoot raised $231k and spent $154k, for a net of $77k for the reporting period. She has $1.2 million cash on hand with the mayoral election one year away. For a comparison, Rahm Emanuel had $6.5 million one year before his reelection #twillpic.twitter.com/fG00zu47th
Illinois Senate Republican Leader Dan McConchie (R-Hawthorn Woods) unveiled the Voter Empowerment Project, a legislative package of constitutional amendments designed to allow Illinois voters a more active role in their democratic process.
“For too long in this state, Illinoisans haven’t had a voice in their state government,” said Leader McConchie. “Legislative leaders have consistently marginalized the voices and opinions of the people of Illinois, cutting them out of the legislative process as important decisions continued to be made behind closed doors without public input. That’s why I am renewing Senate Republican calls to give the people back their voice through our Voter Empowerment Project.”
The package includes four Senate Joint Resolution Constitutional Amendments:
SJRCA 13: Requires an independent redistricting commission, where the chief justice of the Illinois Supreme Court and the most senior supreme court justice of the opposite party would jointly select 17 commissioners to serve on the commission.
The commission would be comprised of seven individuals representing the Democratic Party, seven individuals representing the Republican Party, and three independent commissioners. The first redistricting process would occur in 2023 and then after every subsequent federal decennial census.
SJRCA 14: Allows Illinois voters to make more substantive changes to their constitution. The Illinois Constitution currently limits citizen-initiative amendments to specified structural and procedural subjects. This amendment would put voters in the driver’s seat, allowing them to circulate petitions for and vote on many key issues such as taxation, redistricting, and other important constitutional provisions.
SJRCA 15: Permits citizens the ability to initiate up-or-down referendums on newly passed laws. By giving citizens the right to veto unpopular or rushed legislation, the amendment would allow voters a form of popular redress to political overreach and unwanted mandates.
SJRCA 16: Allows voters to recall elected officials including any executive branch officer, the Speaker of the House, the President of the Senate, the Auditor General, Members of the General Assembly, and local government officials. Currently, only the Governor is subject to recall.
“This package provides needed checks and balances to Illinois’ government—protections that have been weakened after decades of corruption and mismanagement,” said Leader McConchie. “It will empower the people of Illinois by providing them with tools to take back their government.”
The Republican Party nationally has changed dramatically in the eight years since Rauner won, as Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and four years in the White House maligned more traditional GOP politicians — especially those aligned with business interests. Instead, a growing number of Republicans have tapped into a growing and self-perpetuating hunger among previously disaffected voters, even if it means touting baseless conspiracy theories and sometimes amplifying outright racism.
Elected state Republican leaders in Illinois — a blue island on a presidential voting map surrounded by an increasingly red Midwest — have been resistant to riding the new GOP tide. This resistance has divided the state party, a body made up of hyper-partisans who have revolted against their party chairs twice in the past decade for being too moderate.
A key faction of longtime GOP operatives, however, are placing a bet that a diverse mix of Republicans running mostly on kitchen-table issues can attract crossover voters, mostly from suburban areas. But it’s a high-stakes bet, especially given the GOP primary electorate has shifted to mostly downstate areas in the past two decades, which have gotten more conservative as former Democratic strongholds buoyed by union organizing have disappeared, along with key industries.
The bet also promises to be expensive. Griffin, the founder and CEO of Chicago-based hedge fund Citadel, this fall reportedly vowed to spend as much as $300 million on Republican candidates in the 2022 cycle. After Irvin’s announcement Monday, Griffin touted the candidate’s credentials.
Top Illinois Republican leaders also resisted embracing Reaganism back in the day. This internal party fight has ancient roots here.
• Will the public’s memory focus on Pritzker’s failed effort to push through a graduated income tax, or on his more recent accomplishments in balancing the state’s budget, raising its credit rating and paying off old bills rung up during Rauner’s tenure?
• Will COVID finally ease for good, boosting the state’s mood and taking the edge off of what augurs to be at least a good year for Republicans nationally?
• Who will turn out to be the bigger bogeyman: Rauner, whom Democrats seek to mention at every turn, or Mike Madigan, the now retired but still remembered Illinois House speaker?
• Will other top GOP fundraisers—Ron Gidwitz, Dick Uihlein and Craig Duchossois, to name three examples—open their wallets wide for the ticket? I’m told that was a condition of getting Griffin involved, but we’ll see.
“I’ve seen it up close. Defund the police is dumb, dangerous and it costs lives. And I believe that all lives matter. Every family should be safe,” he says. “My city is now safe, stronger and full of opportunity. I want that for Illinois.”
Irvin, 51, the first Black mayor of the state’s second largest city, chose Martin Luther King Jr. Day to launch a campaign he and Republicans believe can appeal to Black voters who traditionally vote overwhelmingly Democratic.
At the same time, Republicans see the recent outbreak in violent crime in the city and suburbs as an opportunity to portray Democrats as soft on crime for enacting criminal justice changes such as an end to cash bail, even though many of those changes have yet to go into effect.
Crime will be the central issue for that Republican slate this year.
“He has to convince diehard GOP voters that he is conservative enough to satisfy their concerns, but he also has to be looking for the general election and he has to be able to convince GOP voters that he can win in the fall,” ABC7 political analyst Laura Washington said.
“The best part about the campaign, the primary this year is not in March. It’s June 28,” political analyst Thom Serafin said. “So he’s got a lot of time to do what he needs to do to get done, and he got a good start based on that video I saw today.” […]
“He’s getting into the race late, but it’s not that late,” Washington said.
“We’ve got almost six months ahead of campaigning. If he has a huge amount of money behind him, he can play catch up very quickly.”
One issue likely to come up in the primary is that Irvin pulled Democratic ballots in the 2014, 2016 and 2020 election primaries and in the 2017 and 2021 consolidated election primaries.
He picked a Republican ballot in the 2018 primary that former Gov. Bruce Rauner won.
“I welcome Mayor Irvin to the race and I look forward to reviewing his conservative credentials and comparing and contrasting his vision for Illinois with ours,” said Palatine Township Highway Commissioner Aaron Del Mar, who is running for lieutenant governor on a ticket with governor candidate and businessman Gary Rabine of McHenry.
Del Mar called it “strategic” that Irvin’s campaign announcement came in a video and he was not available for questions. “I think there’s a lot about Mr. Irvin that Republican voters want to know,” Del Mar said.
Leading the Irvin project is Kirk alum Mike Zolnierowicz, a former chief of staff for Rauner who was the “strategic consultant” for the successful 2020 campaign, fueled by Griffin’s millions, to defeat Pritzker’s bid for a graduated income tax.
With Irvin’s name in play since December, Pritzker’s team, the Democratic Party of Illinois and the Democratic Governor’s Association have been steadfastly linking him to Rauner and Griffin.
The Democrats labeled the Irvin-led slate the “Griffin slate,” and hope the name sticks. The Irvin-Bourne nominating petitions call themselves the “Fight for Illinois Team.” The address for their petition drive is Zolnierowicz’s firm, Z Strategies, in Ravenswood.
[Don Tracy, chairman of the Illinois Republican Party], at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Breakfast in Springfield, encouraged all GOP candidates to heed the 11th Commandment.
“Thou shalt not speak ill of thy fellow Republican. It’s going to be tough in a competitive primary, but as state party chair, it’s my job to remind people of that and I will continue to do so,” he said.
Reform For Illinois Executive Director Alisa Kaplan said it’s going to be a big money campaign the state hasn’t seen before.
“This is an insane amount of money by any standard,” Kaplan told The Center Square Monday. “By national standards, by local standards, by global standards.”
Pritzker spent more than $170 million to get the job in 2018.
“Look at the vicious cycle that Illinois has gotten into with two billionaires,” Kaplan said. “It’s very distressing that Pritzker put $90 million into his campaign account. But when you look at Ken Griffin saying he’s going to put $300 million, how is someone going to fight except with a lot of money.”
Kaplan said voters must beware the influence big money has.
“I think people should be very concerned about what this means for their democracy and do whatever they can to get involved and see how we can empower everyday voters instead of just sitting back and accepting this situation,” Kaplan said.
The next year, while he was running for re-election in Aurora in the spring of 2021, Irvin told a local news outlet, “I support Black Lives Matter strongly and passionately.”
This year, now that he’s running for governor in a Republican primary, Irvin repeated critics of the Black Lives Matter movement who often retort, “I believe All Lives Matter.”
