*** UPDATED x1 *** What else happened Friday?
Saturday, May 29, 2021 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Sun-Times…
Utilities providing water in Illinois would be required to replace all lead service lines, and schools across the state would need to follow new standards for sex education curriculums under bills that advanced in the General Assembly Friday.
The proposed Lead Service Line Replacement Notification Act would require “water utilities statewide to replace all lead service lines and creates a low-income water assistance program to help fund financial assistance and water projects that include lead pipe replacement,” according to a news release announcing the passage of the bill. […]
After a heated debate, House members passed legislation that would change the state’s sex education curriculum to “provide comprehensive personal health and safety education in kindergarten through the 5th grade and comprehensive sexual health education in the 6th through 12th grades in all public schools.”
Starting in second grade, students would learn to define consent, gender identity and different types of families, including co-habitating and same-sex couples. […]
The state Senate also took up a bill barring law enforcement agencies from stopping, arresting, searching or detaining someone “solely based on an individual’s citizenship or immigration status.”
Republicans objected, saying it would “tie the hands” of law enforcement.
* Capitol News Illinois…
The Illinois Senate passed a bill Friday which would strengthen legal protections for immigrants and require the closure of immigrant detention centers in the state.
Senate Bill 667, known as the Illinois Way Forward Act, would amend the Illinois Transparency and Responsibility Using State Tools, or TRUST, Act, which took effect in 2017.
The bill would prevent state and local law enforcement agencies from collaborating with federal agencies such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or from otherwise inquiring about an individual’s immigration status unless presented with a federal warrant.
* More Sun-Times…
State legislators on Friday passed a long-sought bill aimed at ensuring better racial diversity in the state’s cannabis licensing process.
State senators passed the House bill in a 50 to 3 vote Friday afternoon, sending the measure to Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who later announced he planned to sign it.
The legislation, sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Kimberly Lightford, D-Maywood, attempts to fix Illinois’ recreational cannabis law, creating two additional lotteries of 110 total adult-use license dispensaries “for people who are social equity applicants — i.e. from a Black or Brown community,” according to a news release announcing the passage of the bill. In addition, those applicants won’t be subject to rules requiring dispensaries be located at least 1,500 feet apart.
“Existing dispensary owners, all non-minorities, have already taken many of the prime locations in the state,” Lightford said in a statement. “Dispensary owners from disadvantaged communities deserve a fair chance to make a profit by having access to lucrative business locations and not being locked out by distance requirements.”
Those additional lotteries will be broken in two and consist of 55 licenses each round.
* Crain’s…
Despite strong pushback from business leaders and a series of high-level negotiation sessions, it looks a bill that critics say could endanger Illinois’ data-center boom is teed up for final passage.
As now written, the labor-backed bill would require data centers and their tenants to sign a “labor peace argreement” with a union representing those who work on “but not limited to, pumps, chillers and coolers, fire line safety equipment, backup power generators, building automation system controls and water treatment systems.”
In most cases, that means hiring not only union labor but specific job candidates sent to a company.
After meetings involving Deputy Gov. Dan Hynes and others, sponsors have agreed to delay the effective date of the legislation from shortly after passage until Jan 1. That, as one insider puts it, will give the industry time this summer to “make nice and work something out with” labor, particularly the politically powerful International Union of Operating Engineers.
That isn’t Local 150, by the way. It’s a smaller local.
*** UPDATE *** The amended data-center bill passed the House and heads back to the Senate.
* Related…
* Latino Caucus lays out undocumented immigrant protection agenda
* DCFS reform bills head to governor’s desk
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* This escalated quickly…
And then…
* Followed by this press release…
McConchie: Governor must come out of hiding and veto politician-drawn map
“Once again, the politicians running Illinois reminded us all why we cannot trust anything they say or do,” said Illinois Senate Republican Leader Dan McConchie (R-Hawthorn Woods). “Today, less than 24 hours after it was introduced, the Senate Democratic Majority voted to pass a politician-drawn, gerrymandered legislative map.”
“This kind of backroom, power-at-all-costs dealing is exactly why the people of Illinois don’t – and shouldn’t – trust the Democratic Majority running our state government.
“As a candidate, Gov. Pritzker made a promise to the people of Illinois to veto any map like the one they passed today, that was drawn by politicians and their allies.
“We are in the final days of session and Gov. Pritzker hasn’t held a media availability since May 19.
“It is not too late for the governor to come out of hiding and keep his promise that he made to the people of Illinois.
“If he doesn’t, he will have broken the people’s trust once and for all.”
Pretty sure there was at least one leaders meeting this week.
I’ve asked the governor’s office for a response.
*** UPDATE *** Jordan Abudayyeh…
Gov. Pritzker has held more consecutive press conferences than any other Governor in Illinois history, and he will be available to answer questions from the press after he finishes critical negotiations—just as he has every other session.
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* Background is here if you need it. Late Friday afternoon before a holiday weekend while the rest of the news media is focused on the remap. Not buried at all /s…
Today, Governor JB Pritzker took the following bill action:
Bill Number: SB 72
Description: Allows plaintiffs to collect pre-judgment interest on personal injury and wrongful death claims, aligning Illinois with 46 other states. Pre-judgment interest would not apply to state, local governments, school districts, community colleges, any other government entity or consumer debt, nor would it apply to settlements.
Action: Signed
Effective: July 1, 2021
…Adding… Illinois State Medical Society…
When the residents of Illinois have trouble finding a doctor to attend to their medical needs, one of the things they can point to is Senate Bill 72, which was just signed into law.
The new law will inflict deep harm on the state’s already challenged medical liability climate by adding a prejudgment interest penalty at the rate of 6% that starts to accrue on the date an action is filed. This is a system designed to badger defendants and line the pockets of the plaintiffs’ bar, instead of seeking fair resolution to medical liability claims.
The consequences of this new law will be felt when physicians decide Illinois is too expensive of a state to practice medicine. Prejudgment interest will drive up medical liability payouts, force doctors away from our borders and increase the cost of health care. We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: The bottom line is that patients will suffer.
…Adding… IMA…
“This measure will dramatically increase litigation costs on manufacturers, hospitals, and doctors that have been on the front lines throughout the pandemic. Across Illinois, manufacturers have developed life-saving vaccines and treatments, produced personal protective equipment for first responders and health care professionals and have kept grocery stores stocked with safe and nutritious foods. Instead of being supported, these essential facilities will now be hit with tens of millions of dollars in additional costs,” said Mark Denzler, president & CEO of the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association. “Policy makers should be focused on supporting manufacturers to spur economic recovery from the pandemic, not making it harder for businesses to hire workers and invest in our communities.”
…Adding… Background from the governor’s office on negotiated changes to the bill…
• Interest reduced to 6% from 9%
• Pre-judgement interest no longer begins to accrue upon notice to defendant, it now begins when a case is filed.
• Pre-judgement interest would no longer accrue on punitive damage, sanctions, statutory attorney’s fees, or statutory costs.
• Removed the State from pre-judgement interest.
• If a plaintiff voluntarily dismisses a case then the interest will be tolled during the time it’s dismissed.
• Caps the accrual period for interest at five years.
• Effective date moved to 7/1/21 (was immediate in previous version).
• Within the first 12 months if a defendant makes an offer for settlement and it is not accepted or rejected in a timely manner by the plaintiff then the interest amount will be determined by the difference between the offered amount and the ultimate amount of the judgement.
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*** UPDATE 1 *** The House has passed the Cook County Board of Review remap 72-45. The chamber is now debating the Illinois Supreme Court remap bill.
*** UPDATE 2 *** The House just passed the Supreme Court map 72-45. Keep an eye on the live coverage post for moment-by-moment updates and debate coverage.
*** UPDATE 3 *** The House is debating the resolution describing the intent of the remap. Within that resolution, the Democrats claim that changes were made to the district to unpack House Republicans from districts with fellow House Republicans “Following the request of Republicans.” The Republicans say they made no request (see below) and Rep. Keicher specifically asked that his name be removed from the resolution.
*** UPDATE 4 *** The Senate is now taking up the legislative redistricting bill, HB2777.
*** UPDATE 5 *** The Senate has passed the redistricting bill, HB2777, which now heads to the House.
*** UPDATE 6 *** The House has passed the legislative redistricting resolution.
*** UPDATE 7 *** The Senate has approved the new Supreme Court maps on a partisan roll call. It will be sent to the governor.
*** UPDATE 8 *** The Senate has passed the Board of Review remap. It will be sent to the governor.
*** UPDATE 9 *** ILGOP Chair…
“Illinois Democrat legislators conducted an embarrassing and nontransparent process to create the exact type of map Governor JB Pritzker pledged to veto. The Governor now has a choice. He can either keep his word to veto a partisan map drawn by politicians or turn his back on the people of Illinois. Pritzker can do the right thing or outright break his promise.”
*** UPDATE 10 *** The House has passed the legislative redistricting bill 71-45. And that’s it. Both chambers have passed their resolutions, and both chambers have now passed all the remap bills.
[ *** End Of Updates *** ]
* Crain’s…
After a week of absolutely tone-deaf public relations, Illinois Democrats finally got a little smarter last night, rolling out slightly revised proposed new maps for Illinois House and Senate districts.
But the changes, which are expected to start moving through the House later today and make it to Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s desk by the time you’re back at work next week, effectively only tweak around the margins of maps that leave Democrats solidly in control of the General Assembly. […]
“It was a ploy to get us to go along, and we didn’t bite,” says one ranking Republican. “They tried the exact same thing 10 years ago. It’s the same playbook.”
This was a power move, and those aren’t popular with reporters and pundits. You just put your head down and listen to your lawyers. The second map is part of the whole process and, as noted above, was used before…
The once-in-a-decade event is always acrimonious, but partisan bickering and even tiffs between members of the redistricting committees and witnesses weighing in on the mapmaking process have dominated conversations surrounding the new district boundaries.
The chief complaint from advocacy organizations is Democrats’ insistence on using non-Census data to draw the maps, as the COVID pandemic delayed the 2020 Census data until August — more than two months after a constitutional trigger that takes the redistricting process out of lawmakers’ hands and punts it to an eight-member bipartisan appointed commission, which has ended in deadlock three of four times it’s ever been used.
As a deadlocked commission is a forgone conclusion, Democrats don’t want to risk giving Republicans a 50/50 chance to control the mapmaking process with the random selection of an additional partisan member of the panel, who would cast the deciding vote in one of the party’s favors.
* Tribune…
Democrats late Tuesday also acknowledged the use of “public election data” in drawing the maps. The party preference of Illinois voters who cast primary ballots is public record.
In addition the Democrats said 15 of the new districts are at or above 50% Black population and 14 districts are at or above 50% Latinx.
The state’s Latinx population has supplanted the Black population behind the state’s white population.
Those are not Citizen Voting Age Population numbers, however. There are 12 Black and 5 Latinx-majority districts when accounting for CVAP.
* Capitol News Illinois…
Republicans on Wednesday tried to tie an indictment of a longtime lieutenant of former House Speaker Michael Madigan to the Democrats’ effort to redraw legislative district lines ahead of the General Assembly’s May 31 adjournment.
The latest indictment came Wednesday with just six days remaining in the legislative session, as former Madigan chief of staff Tim Mapes faced charges of lying to a grand jury about his knowledge of Madigan’s involvement with a prominent lobbyist who has also been indicted. Madigan has not been charged.
Republicans on a redistricting committee used the indictment as a new line of attack, complementing their claims that Democrats are trying to forge ahead with inadequate population data and a complete lack of transparency as to how the maps were drawn.
Rep. Tim Butler, R-Springfield, pointed out that Mapes was heavily involved in Madigan’s redistricting efforts, the most recent of which took place in 2011 after the previous decennial census.
“The new boss has the old boss’s ways. It came home to roost today in the indictment of the man who used to run this entire operation, and whose shadow was cast across these proceedings,” Butler said. “Let’s get transparent, let’s get the data out.”
* The new boss may have “improved” on the old boss’ ways…
Mapes, by the way, pleaded not guilty today.
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Because… Madigan! No, really
Friday, May 28, 2021 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The national Democrats should probably send some observers to Illinois campaigns because nobody has ever once written a story complaining that Illinois Democrats (or Republicans) were being too nice and bipartisan in their advertising…
As Democrats face a 2022 midterm landscape that could cost them the House, they are grappling with hard strategic challenges. Democrats in tough districts with many Republican voters in them feel twin pressures: one is to emphasize their bipartisan outreach. The other is to refrain from prosecuting the case against GOP radicalization too forcefully.
A new analysis of House Democratic losses in 2020 done by a progressive donor and strategy group — which is circulating among Democratic strategists — suggests some counterintuitive answers for Democrats navigating these pressures.
The analysis — which was done by the group Way to Win and was provided to me — suggests large TV-ad expenditures on emphasizing bipartisan outreach do not appear to have paid dividends for House Democrats in the 2020 elections. […]
As it happens, the DCCC’s own internal analysis, reported on by Paul Kane, has similarly concluded that Democrats were caught off guard by the potency of GOP attacks.
Hilarious. And the chair of the DCCC last year was an Illinoisan, albeit one without any state-level campaign experience.
Go read the rest. And there’s more here.
…Adding… ILGOP fundraising email…
Friends,
It has never been more important to FIRE PRITZKER than it is now. 2022 is rapidly approaching, and it’s past time Illinois had a change in leadership.
With Pritzker in the Governor’s Mansion (no, not the mansion he pulled all of the toilets out of to avoid paying taxes), here’s how Illinois has fared:
🚫 NO protection for our police officers
🚫 An economy in SHAMBLES
🚫 Government CORRUPTION
🚫 RADICAL LEFTWING policies
Is this the kind of state we want to live in? Is this the kind of leadership we want representing us? NO.
The ILGOP is fighting back. But we need YOUR help to do so. Big change starts with small donations, so chip in and become part of the change!
CHIP IN TO FIRE PRITZKER!
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* By Jennifer Smith Richards, Chicago Tribune, and Jodi S. Cohen, ProPublica…
Illinois school workers physically restrained or secluded nearly 2,400 students more than 15,000 times this school year, a period when many schools were closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, new state data shows.
The data, obtained Thursday by the Chicago Tribune and ProPublica, shows that even with new rules put in place early last year, schools continued to use physical restraints and isolated timeout thousands of times. The data includes public schools, private schools and regional cooperatives that exclusively serve students with disabilities.
The release of the information comes as Illinois lawmakers weigh whether to more strictly limit when school workers can put students in seclusion and physically restrain them. The Senate voted early this week to ban locked seclusion and to prohibit schools from using other types of isolation unless students or staff are in “imminent danger” of harm. The bill, which also would end the use of prone, or face-down, restraint by the end of the next school year, awaits a vote in the House, where similar legislation stalled this year.
“This magnifies even more why we must absolutely pass this legislation and the governor must sign it into law,” said Rep. Jonathan Carroll, D-Northbrook, who has championed a seclusion ban in the House. “We have to have legislation because it has to stop.”
Opposition has stemmed mainly from a few suburban private schools that have argued prone restraint should be allowed for students in crisis. The current legislative session ends Monday. […]
More than 90% of the students subjected to the interventions since July 2020 were students with disabilities, according to a Tribune-ProPublica analysis of the data. More than 8 in 10 were boys, and a quarter were Black. Less than 17% of students in the state’s schools are Black.
More than 60% of students whom schools physically restrained or placed in timeout were in kindergarten through fifth grade. Two of every 10 students were in prekindergarten, kindergarten or first grade. This is the first time ISBE has tracked the age of students affected by seclusion and restraint.
Enough, already. Just… enough.
…Adding… Rep. Jonathan Carroll…
This morning, we were able to move HB219 out of committee and hopefully it will pass the house this weekend getting us closer to ending these practices. Despite my optimism with our legislation, I’m very disappointed that these practices are still happening in our schools. I’d like to know how during a pandemic we’re still seeing kids being treated like criminals?
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* I get emails…
HI,
Passing through the senate today is a bill (HB 1879) that honors the discovery of the mold in Illinois that was the precursor of the one used to make the penicillin antibiotic for WW2 is used even today. The bill is to designate Penicillium rubens as Illinois state Microbe. This mold was discovered on a cantaloupe found in a down town Peoria, IL market during the early part of WW2. Earlier, a mold brought from Britain to Peoria wasn’t productive enough so mold samples were collected from around the world to screen them for greater production of penicillin. Of those the Peoria mold was selected to produce the life saving drug that saved thousands of military lives during WW2 and millions since. A recent program on Public TV (Extra Life: A Short History of Living Longer: Medicine) mentioned that penicillin was equal to the atomic bomb in importance. We are past due to have this mold as our state microbe.
Other states, such as Oregon and New Jersey already have named theirs. New Jersey’s mold is of particular interest because it was the second mold (Streptomyces griseus) to produce the important antibiotic, streptomycin. The initial mass production work to make this antibiotic and other antibiotics was done in Illinois at Peoria. Streptomycin is considered as the second most important antibiotic discovered. Penicillin is considered as number one. All the discoveries found to mass produce penicillin allowed other antibiotics to be produced likewise. It’s time that penicillin is recognized for its importance.
The current bill in the statehouse to name an Illinois state microbe has some history. It was first SB 1857 an introduced in the 2019 Spring Session of the Illinois Senate. A recent analysis DNA done found that the species (chrysogenum) was incorrect. Initial classification had been done as to the physical structure of the mold. It was now to be Penicillium rubens. So a correction was done to the bill’s wording. That slowed the bill’s passing through each state house and it didn’t pass in the 2019 Spring Session. In November of 2019, the bill was on the docket during the Fall Veto Session. It didn’t make it to the floor. The 2020 Pandemic Spring Session also saw no progress. Dual new bills were introduced in the 2021 Spring Sessions of the IL Senate and IL House. They were SB 2004 and HB 1879. The House bill is currently the official bill. As previously said, it is now in the Senate for a second reading. Time is short for it to get passed through the House and on to the Governor’s desk sometime this summer.
The historical work done here in the great state of Illinois on penicillin has impacted the health of all people in the world. It’s past time for a state microbe.
Gary Kuzniar
Co-Chair
Illinois State Microbe Designation Project
The bill designates Penicillium rubens NRRL 1951 as Illinois’ official state microbe.
That’s quite a mouthful. Can we give it a nickname?
*** UPDATE *** Passed the Senate…
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* Press release…
The Senate and House Redistricting Committees today released an updated version of the proposed legislative map that includes changes suggested by community groups, advocacy organizations and individuals during hours of testimony at four public hearings held this week.
“After 50 public hearings across the state and listening to hours of testimony, the House and Senate Democrats have put together a product our state can be proud of,” said Rep. Lisa Hernandez, Chair of the House Redistricting Committee. “What should stand out about this proposed map is how similar districts look compared to our current map. This is the same map a renowned expert says is a model for the nation for minority representation. The changes we made not only reflect testimony provided the last couple of days from members of the public, but also include revisions to address concerns raised by Republicans.”
“This proposed map is the product of countless hours of testimony from advocacy, community, and grassroots organizations, as well as individuals who care deeply about their communities. Their passion and dedication were vital to this process, which has resulted in a fair map that will not only ensure that broad racial and geographic diversity is reflected in the General Assembly, but also maintain our status as a leader in the nation for minority representation in the state legislature,” said Sen. Omar Aquino, Chair of the Senate Redistricting Committee.
Among the changes made in the revised version of the proposed legislative map is a request from the Orthodox Jewish community. While maintaining the integrity of surrounding districts, as well as requests from other members of the public, the revisions will keep more of the Orthodox Jewish community united. The revised legislative map also restores the southern part of the North Lawndale neighborhood in Chicago to its current legislative district following feedback from community members asking for that change.
Following the release of the proposed legislative map, Republicans in the legislature made public comments criticizing the number of incumbent Republicans who would be located in the same district. A number of those districts have been reconfigured to accommodate the concerns of Republicans.
In addition to these updates, House and Senate Democrats also released new boundaries for the Cook County Board of Review. The Board is a vital asset that assists taxpayers in calculating tax obligations for Cook County property owners. Currently, there are three Commissioners elected in three separate districts in Cook County. This proposed map reflects population shifts in the past decade and allows for more equal representation across the districts.
Consistent with the proposed legislative and Supreme Court maps, this proposed map was drafted using population information from the American Community Survey’s (ACS) 5-year estimate for 2019. The ACS estimate varies by just 0.3 percent from the state’s official population count released by the U.S. Census Bureau in April.
The proposed maps will soon head to committee for further debate and discussion in both the House and Senate. To view the proposed map, visit www.ilsenateredistricting.com or www.ilhousedems.com/redistricting.
…Adding… Leader Durkin…
Illinois House Republican Leader Jim Durkin (R-Western Springs) released the following statement on the release of new legislative maps by the Illinois Democrats this evening:
“Round two of the House Democratic legislative maps are as dishonest as the ones released last Friday. The House Democrats turned their back on Illinoisans and every advocacy group who has an interest in honest government. Despite the flowery rhetoric about these changes, the Illinois House Democrats allowed their members to draw their own legislative districts with phony data. It is now on Governor Pritzker to live up to his pledge in 2019 and veto this poor excuse for democracy.”
Senate GOP…
State Senator Jason Barickman (R-Bloomington), lead Republican on the Senate Redistricting Committee, released the following statement in response to the Democrat’s most recently released map.
“Tonight’s disclosure demonstrates everything wrong with the current broken system of politicians creating their own legislative districts. During numerous hearings, Democrats in charge claimed that they wanted the public’s input, but what they’ve done this year is no better than the same crooked paths of the past.
“They drew a map behind closed doors that is not representative of the people they are supposed to be serving. Their updated map maintains the broken status quo, because it was clearly created to prioritize the protection of incumbent politicians and maintain their power over everything else. No one could watch this gerrymandering process unfold and maintain any level of respect or faith in their state legislature.
“Illinois has to change the way districts are drawn. We desperately need a system where the public actively participates in an open, transparent, and independent process. We need an independent commission to draw the districts based on Illinoisans’ diverse communities and shared interests, to make districts more competitive, which will result in a much more responsive legislature.
“The people of Illinois should be empowered to carry out this process to choose their representatives, instead of allowing the politicians in power to choose their voters.
“We are once again calling on the Governor to live up to his promise and veto this and any other politician-drawn map.”
House GOP…
Illinois House Republican Redistricting Committee Members Avery Bourne (R-Morrisonville), Tim Butler (R-Springfield), Dave Severin (R-Benton) and Ryan Spain (R-Peoria):
“Once again, behind closed doors in a locked room, the Illinois Democrats re-drafted legislative maps to maintain their political power across Illinois by choosing their voters. Chairwoman Hernandez’s claims of accommodating Republican concerns are deceptive and downright untrue. The only concerns Republicans voiced were the use of inadequate data, and politicians drawing their own maps to pick their voters.
We join the countless advocates who testified in four public hearings over the last two days who urged the Majority Party to wait for the official Census data coming in just two months before making final decisions on this very important process in our democracy. We call on Governor Pritzker to veto these maps just as he promised millions of Illinoisans he would while on the campaign trail.”
*** UPDATE *** Rep. Tarver has introduced an amendment containing the Supreme Court redistricting language. Click here.
…Adding… Yep…
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* Morning IDOT press release…
The Illinois Department of Transportation announced today that multiple improvement projects in Chicago are underway or starting soon and extending into 2022. The seven projects represent a total investment of more than $849 million for the region, made possible by Gov. JB Pritzker’s historic, bipartisan Rebuild Illinois capital program.
“With the Rebuild Illinois capital plan, we are restoring and transforming Illinois’s aging infrastructure,” said Gov. Pritzker. “Rebuild Illinois is not only about investing in infrastructure but about investing in people and communities as well. In the coming months, IDOT will undertake projects that will ultimately create safer roads and bridges and provide jobs in Chicago and across the entire state.”
* Around the same time that release went out, Mayor Lori Lightfoot talked to reporters about infrastructure…
We also need to make sure that we get funding from the state, from the plan that was passed by the [legislature] in 2019. We’ve seen very little of those dollars, and it’s critically important that those dollars come to cities like Chicago so we can continue to magnify the efforts around rebuilding our aging infrastructure.
The city also gets a sizable chunk of the Motor Fuel Tax, which was doubled in 2019 and is now tied to CPI. Not to mention that getting the Chicago casino up and running would go a long way to providing dollars for vertical construction projects.
…Adding… I asked the governor’s office for dollars distributed to the city so far under Rebuild Illinois…
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*** UPDATE *** Click here to read the indictment.
* Sun-Times…
To be updated.
…Adding… Tribune…
The charges allege Mapes repeatedly lied to the grand jury during an appearance on March 31 when asked about Madigan’s relationship with his longtime confidante Michael McClain, who has been charged with orchestrating the bribery scheme on behalf of ComEd to win Madigan’s assistance with state legislation.
Mapes lied to the panel even though he’d been granted immunity from prosecution by the U.S. Attorney’s Office and was told by the Chief U.S. District Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer that he must testify truthfully or possibly face criminal charges for perjury, according to the indictment.
The charges against Mapes marked the latest in a still-active investigation that also threatens to ensnare Madigan, who was the nation’s longest-serving state House leader before stepping down in January as pressure from the investigation was mounting.
Madigan has not been charged with wrongdoing.
* WBEZ…
The indictment is certain to create major ripples in the closing days of the Springfield legislative session, where ComEd and its corporate parent, Exelon, are trying to negotiate a new energy bill before a scheduled Monday adjournment that could include subsidies to keep its nuclear power plant fleet afloat.
…Adding… WBEZ…
The indictment went on to allege that Mapes lied to the grand jury about his knowledge of conversations McClain had in 2018 with two members of the House Democratic caucus, identified only as Public Official B and Public Official C.
The indictment alleges McClain told Mapes about the discussions but doesn’t detail their substance nor allege wrongdoing by those officeholders. WBEZ has confirmed those public officials to be state Rep. Bob Rita, D-Blue Island, and former state Rep. Lou Lang, D-Skokie.
“We have no idea who or what they’re talking about in this,” Rita told WBEZ in a statement Wednesday night. Rita did not respond to a question about whether he’d been asked to testify before a grand jury.
Lang did not respond to a message from WBEZ.
Sun-Times…
Mapes’ defense attorneys, Andrew Porter and Katie Hill, released a statement denying that Mapes lied to the grand jury.
“Tim Mapes testified truthfully in the grand jury,” they wrote. “His honest recollections — in response to vague and imprecise questions about events that allegedly took place many years ago — simply do not constitute perjury. This case, of course, is not about him — but about the government’s continued pursuit of his former boss. Tim Mapes has in no way engaged in obstruction of justice, and looks forward to prevailing at trial when all of the facts are aired.”
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* Patrick Smith at WBEZ…
Throughout her tenure, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and the police superintendents who work for her have repeatedly blamed judges when the city’s violence starts to rise. The argument goes like this: If judges would keep more people locked up after arrest, then they wouldn’t be able to commit crimes, and violence in Chicago would decrease. […]
But emails released to the public after a hack of the mayor’s office show that even as Lightfoot and police leaders continued to trot out the talking point, some of the highest-ranking city officials were aware the claim was wrong. And in fact, the leader of the city’s anti-violence efforts repeatedly tried to get them to stop making the claim that decisions on pretrial release were driving Chicago shootings. […]
“Electronic monitoring and low bond amounts given to offenders endangers our residents and flies in the face of the hard work our police officers put in on a daily basis to take them off the streets,” [CPD Superintendent David Brown] said [last summer]. “I will continue to bring attention to the sheer number of repeat offenders who are given little to no jail time and low bonds and … go on to commit more crimes.”
By that point, the emails show, city officials were scrambling to find evidence that would justify Lightfoot and Brown’s claims, but their efforts were largely unsuccessful.
One week before Brown made his comments, in an email thread spurred by a question from Crain’s Chicago Business columnist Greg Hinz, the mayor’s office and CPD were able to find only two examples of bail decisions leading to new gun crimes.
On top of that, Pat Mullane, a top mayoral spokesman at the time, admitted to colleagues that one of the two examples was “kind of weak.” But he said the city needed to provide them “so the [superintendent] doesn’t look like he’s pointing the finger.”
There’s a lot more, so click here and read the whole thing.
*** UPDATE *** Press release…
The following is a statement from state Sen. Robert Peters (D-Chicago), who has spent the past five years fighting alongside community groups to end cash bail and sponsored the Safe-T Act which abolished cash bail and wealth-based detention in Illinois:
“We continue to work in pursuit of real public safety for all and, at least in Springfield, we have made significant progress because we know that public safety belongs to the people. Along those lines, the people deserve the truth from those elected to represent them.
“There is nothing more damaging than a public servant who knowingly contributes to a false narrative, and enables a system that picks and chooses evidence and data-based practices.
“Despite this, and with the support of Governor Pritzker, we were successful in ending cash bail in Illinois, taking the oxygen out of any more declarations from those who choose to ignore the fact that our justice system used to rule by ‘guilty if poor.’”
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* From what I’m told, this elected Chicago school board idea is being pitched by Senate President Don Harmon. Other folks have to sign off, of course, but this appears to be the framework on which the solution will be built. Greg Hinz…
According to reliable sources, what’s now being pitched is a 21-member board that would be elected in 2027. In the meantime, a “hybrid” 21-person board would be created, with 10 members elected in 2023 and 10 appointed by the mayor, as occurs now. The mayor also would appoint the chair, the 21st member, giving the city’s chief nominal but by no means certain control of the board.
The elections would occur on the same dates as city elections for mayor and aldermen.
Another feature of the latest plan: Two years into the hybrid period, an outside commission would take a look at how things are going and issue a public report that, if negative, could prompt the General Assembly to re-evaluate the situation.
*** UPDATE *** The Senate Executive Committee passed Sen. Martwick’s original bill with a promise to hold it on the floor pending a compromise. Martwick would not pledge to hold the bill forever, but Senate President Don Harmon said he was confident that a compromise would be found by the end of session.
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