Gov. Pritzker Signs Legislation Creating the Local Journalism Task Force
Task Force Aims to Promote and Aid Local Journalism
Governor JB Pritzker signed into law Senate Bill 134, which creates the Local Journalism Task Force. The Task Force will conduct a comprehensive study of the status of journalism and make recommendations for improvement to the Governor and General Assembly.
“Many communities across our country have become news deserts – through this legislation, Illinois is taking a step toward addressing that challenge,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “Robust local journalism is vitally important and I look forward to reviewing the recommendations from the Task Force as we seek to maintain and grow a strong press corps in Illinois.”
“I’ve dedicated years of my life to journalism, so I understand the importance of having access to local news,” said State Senator Steve Stadelman (D-Rockford). “People deserve to know what’s going on in their community, regardless of where they live.”
“Many of the residents of the state are deprived of comprehensive local news coverage,” said State Rep. Dave Vella (D-Rockford). “Local news coverage provides a shared sense of community and a vital check on local government. SB134 creates a task force that seeks to find out what can be done to save it.
Senate Bill 134 creates the Local Journalism Task Force, which will:
• conduct a comprehensive study relative to communities underserved by local journalism in Illinois,
• review all aspects of local journalism including, but not limited to, the adequacy of press coverage of communities, print and digital business models for media outlets, the impact of social media on local news, strategies to improve local news access, and public policy solutions to improve the sustainability of local press business models and private and nonprofit solutions, and
• submit findings and recommendations to the Governor and General Assembly by January 1, 2023.
The Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity will be required to provide administrative and other support to the Task Force. The Task Force is also required to meet a minimum of five times.
The membership of the Task Force will consist of the following 15 members:
• one member of each chamber appointed by the caucus leader,
• one member appointed by the Governor,
• one representative of the Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications at Northwestern University,
• one representative of the Public Affairs Reporting Program at the University of Illinois at Springfield,
• one representative of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign,
• one representative of the School of Journalism at SIU-C,
• one representative of the Illinois Press Association,
• one representative of the Illinois Broadcasters Association,
• one representative of the Illinois Legislative Correspondents Association,
• one representative of the Illinois News Broadcasters Association,
• one representative of the Illinois Public Broadcasting Council, and
• one representative of the Illinois Municipal League.
SB 134 is effective January 1, 2022.
The legislation was supported by numerous publishing/broadcasting groups.
* The Question: What are your suggestions to improve local news?
*** UPDATE *** How about we start with not running ubiquitous and goofy stories like this?…
A Freeport lawmaker wants the state to let local school boards and health departments determine if students and staff should wear masks at school.
Rep. Andrew Chesney (R) filed HB 4131 on Friday. […]
Rep. Chesney hopes the bill be discussed during the state’s Special Session on Aug. 31 to discuss the political maps.
Um, yeah, no. The bill hasn’t even been assigned to a committee yet and the only way it will be “discussed” during the special session called for a specific purpose that has nothing to do with masks in schools is if Chesney gets up to speak about it during a lull. A quick phone call could’ve cleared that up.
Facebook is helping kill off local journalism, but that doesn’t mean local news stories ought to be just like Facebook posts. How about, maybe, you know, report the thing out a bit? There’s literally nothing in that story which actually challenges Chesney’s claims.
Defense attorneys for four former ComEd executives and consultants with close ties to former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan are seeking to dismiss some of the federal charges filed against them last year, arguing the bribery indictment against them “fails to allege any quid pro quo.” […]
“The indictment loosely strings together an assortment of events over a ten-year period of time—largely hiring decisions made by ComEd made at the recommendation of Public Official A—and alleges that, because such recommendations were made in the same decade that legislation affecting ComEd was passed, a crime must have been committed. But the indictment fails to allege any connection between these hiring decisions and any agreement or understanding with Public Official A that he would take (or refrain from) any action on ComEd’s behalf in exchange for the things of value Defendants allegedly provided,” attorneys wrote.
Further, the defense team argued that accepting federal prosecutors’ stance that an explicit quid pro quo is not necessary to uphold the bribery charges “would put huge numbers of American citizens at risk of prosecution for their ordinary participation in the political process.”
“These gaps are fatal to the indictment because giving things of value to public officials can be perfectly legal. The Supreme Court has unanimously held that it is not a crime to give something to a public official ‘to build a reservoir of goodwill that might ultimately affect one or more of a multitude of unspecified acts, now and in the future,’” defense attorneys wrote.
The attorneys argued that allowing the bribery charges to stand without an explicit quid pro quo “would provide the government essentially unlimited discretion to prosecute anyone who has provided a benefit to a public official, and convict them on evidence that the public official took some official act that the defendant favored, without ever proving that the official’s actions were taken in exchange for the benefit provided, or even that the defendant understood or expected that the benefit would influence the official’s actions.”
Federal prosecutors argued Monday that a bid from four members of ex-House Speaker Michael Madigan’s inner circle to convince a judge to toss part of the indictment filed against them ignores the alleged corruption at the heart of the case.
“The illegal conduct alleged in the indictment did not consist merely of lobbying, and it did not include campaign contributions made by ComEd,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Amarjeet Bhachu wrote in a new 74-page court filing.
Instead, Bhachu wrote, the four allegedly delivered benefits to Madigan’s associates with the hope Madigan “would give favorable treatment to ComEd legislation” — an arrangement that could be understood as a quid pro quo. […]
Bhachu countered Monday that the four sought “to influence and reward Public Official A in his capacity as Speaker of the House of Representatives with significant power over legislation affecting ComEd’s interests.
“These were not bona fide arrangements made in the usual course of business,” Bhachu wrote, “and there is no legal basis to dismiss these charges from the indictment.”
But in a 74-page response filed late Monday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Amarjeet Bhachu wrote the federal bribery law does not require a quid pro quo, and even if it did, the allegations in the indictment make clear that Madigan — identified only as Public Official A — was in on the scheme. […]
“Here, the charges are not based on political logrolling, but rather, on private benefits in the form of jobs, contracts, and payments offered to be paid by a private company in order to influence and reward a legislator in carrying out his official duties,” the motion stated.
Bhachu also blasted arguments by the defendants that some of the bribery charges should be dismissed because they could not be tied to a specific “official act,” citing former Republican Gov. George Ryan’s corruption conviction.
Bhachu said the 7th Circuit ruled in the Ryan case that a “stream of benefits” was provided to the governor over time, “more like a meal plan in which you don’t pay for each item on the menu.” The indictment in the ComEd case alleges a similar scenario, he said.
* Related…
* Ed Burke’s lawyers say feds spent four years investigating him before tapping phones: Additionally, Burke’s lawyers responded to a revelation by the feds last spring that Burke allegedly made a “distasteful” comment about Jewish people. His attorneys insisted Friday the comment is too prejudicial, and any relevance to the racketeering case is outweighed by “the risk that the jury will infer from the statement that Ald. Burke is anti-Semitic.”
Today, Nikki Budzinski, a labor activist, former senior advisor to Governor JB Pritzker, and former member of the Biden administration at OMB announced her campaign for Congress in Illinois’ 13th congressional district with a coalition of support.
Born in Peoria, Nikki’s parents taught her the importance of family, community, and service to others. From her grandpa, a union painter, she saw how unions built and sustained the middle class. From her grandma, a public-school teacher, she learned the value of a good education. After graduating from the University of Illinois at Urbana - Champaign, Nikki traveled the country fighting to get hard-working people the pay and workplace protections they deserve while working with the IAFF firefighters union and UFCW.
As Governor JB Pritzker’s senior advisor, Nikki helped pass a $15 minimum wage in Illinois and expand high speed internet across the state. As the Chief of Staff in President Biden’s Office of Management and Budget, she helped implement the American Rescue Plan and established the Made in America office.
Budzinski also announced the endorsement of UFCW Local 881, Pastor Ray McJunkins, the Lead Pastor of Union Baptist Church in Springfield, State Representative Katie Stuart, Sangamon County Democratic Chairman Bill Houlihan, Christian County Democratic Chairman Ben Curtin, Jersey County Democratic Chairman Mark Pohlman, Calhoun County Democratic Chairman Paul “Snow” Herkert, and Macoupin County Democrats Chairwoman Pam Monetti.
Budzinski made the following statement: “I’ve spent my whole life fighting for working people and I’ll do the same in Congress. I want to make sure every Illinoisan has access to the same middle-class opportunities that my grandparents did as union painters and teachers.
Rodney Davis isn’t getting the job done. The stakes are too high for middle class families like the one I grew up in to have ineffective leaders in Congress and I plan to go to Congress and deliver for Illinois.”
Steve Powell, President of Local 881 and UFCW International Vice President made the following statement: “Nikki has spent her entire professional life fighting for working people. As we recover from COVID19 and build a new 21st-century economy, we need leaders like Nikki in Congress that are going to stand up for our members and make sure labor has a seat at the decision-making table. My job is to deliver for our members and having advocates like Nikki in Congress makes that easier. That’s why UFCW Local 881 is supporting Nikki.”
Pam Monetti, Chairwoman of the Macoupin County Democrats made the following statement: “Working people need allies in Congress that will make sure middle-class families get a fair shake. We haven’t gotten that from Rodney Davis the entire time he’s been in office. We need a true ally to working people which is why I’m supporting Nikki. She’s walked the walk - working in the labor movement, working to pass a $15 minimum wage in Illinois, and working on the American Rescue Plan in President Biden’s administration. Nikki will get the job done and I encourage others to support her.”
Pastor Ray McJunkins made the following statement: “Nikki Budzinski’s career spans over 20 years as a public servant. With an impressive and extensive background in government and political science Nikki is an exceptional individual when it comes to her passion of making a difference. She understands the importance of involvement in the decision-making process while working for the common good. With her education and experience, I am confident she will be a strong voice for the working class. Nikki Budzinski will bring to Capitol Hill knowledge, skill, experience, integrity, determination, and character. In fact, my descriptive summary of Nikki includes words such as competent, committed, talented, and innovative. She is an asset to local and state government and will be an even greater asset to federal government as she works for the people.”
Keep in mind that we don’t yet know what the districts will look like, and probably won’t until late October.
*** UPDATE *** Aaron DeGroot at the Rodney Davis campaign…
Hey, Rich.
Here is a quote from me as Davis campaign spokesperson regarding the Nikki Budzinski announcement:
“Nikki Budzinski is a lifelong Democrat political operative who is steeped in corrupt, Madigan-style politics. When she was a top staffer for Governor Pritzker, she helped Mike Madigan put his allies in patronage jobs throughout state government. Illinois voters have had enough of corrupt Madigan Machine politicians like Budzinski.”
And since Budzinski is Dick Durbin’s candidate for Congress against Rodney, I’ll note that Durbin is 0-5 against Rodney.
* Gov. JB Pritzker was asked today how the FDA’s approval of the Pfizer vaccine and subsequent Pentagon vaccine mandate for service members alters his “leverage” with state employees, teachers or other people. “Will you expand vaccine mandates now that this full approval is here?” His response…
Well, it’s not about leverage. I mean, let’s start with the idea that there are people who have been hesitant to get vaccinated because these vaccines were only under emergency use authorization. At this point now today, as a result of what the FDA has done, there is reams and reams of research that has now been done to prove that these vaccines are effective, especially the mRNA vaccines, like Pfizer. And so I’m very happy about that. I think so many people who may have been hesitant, wondering whether it was approved too quickly, now, literally almost a year later, we now have so much research to show these work. I’m very happy about that. I think that that means many more people will choose to get vaccinated. And I do think that there will be private institutions that will choose to require vaccinations now that it’s no longer under EUA.
Please pardon all transcription errors.
* The Question: How long should the governor wait before mandating the COVID-19 vaccine for all state employees? Make sure to explain your answer, even if you believe that he shouldn’t ever mandate the vax.
“City employees are absolutely going to be required to be vaccinated,” she said, adding that discussions are still ongoing with the unions that represent most city workers, but specific announcements would land in the coming days. “We absolutely have to have a vaccine mandate. It’s for the safety of all involved, particularly members of the public, who are interacting with city employees on a daily basis.”
About 6 in 10 Americans say students and teachers should be required to wear face masks while in school, according to a poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Similar shares say teachers and eligible students should also be required to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. […]
The poll shows 59% of Americans support vaccination requirements for teachers and nearly as many — 55% — say the same for students age 12 and over, who are eligible to be vaccinated. Among parents, support was lower, with 42% backing vaccine mandates for students.
[Dr. Marc Shelton, HSHS senior vice president and chief clinical officer] said the delta variant is more likely to hospitalize unvaccinated people younger than 65 because older people are more likely to be vaccinated. The variant also appears to make people sicker and in a shorter time period, he said.
A year ago, a rise in COVID-19 diagnoses typically was followed by a surge in hospitalizations eight to 15 weeks later, Shelton said. Now, because of the delta variant, it takes five weeks for patients to show up at the hospital after being diagnosed, he said. […]
The average age of COVID-19 patients in MHS hospitals now is 58, compared with 69 in 2020. These patients are requesting more interventions to maximize their chance of survival, and those interventions, such as using a ventilator to help a patient breathe, must take place in inpatient settings, Govindaiah said.
The rising hospitalizations has prompted Memorial officials to open new COVID-19 units and redeploy some staff from other jobs to provide more support at the bedside, he said.
* This is far worse than scamming the government to get a handicapped parking pass and should be treated far more harshly…
An Oregon school superintendent is telling parents they can get their children out of wearing masks by citing federal disability law. […]
In some cases, he said, he believes those problems justify an exemption under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 because they interfere with learning.
But Laurie VanderPloeg, an associate executive director at the Council for Exceptional Children, an advocacy group, cautioned that under the federal law, children would not be allowed to go maskless simply because they asked.
Under the law, she said, school districts would have to go through a formal process to establish whether a child does, in fact, have a particular mental or physical disability, such as a respiratory condition, that would warrant an exception to the mask rule.
In Kansas, the Spring Hill school board is allowing parents to claim a medical or mental health exemption from the county’s requirement that elementary school students mask up. They do not need a medical provider to sign off.
I recently saw a video online of an anti-mask Illinois parent citing ADA at a school, so I presume this scam has arrived here. I’m so old I remember when we used to be disgusted when people lied about a disability to obtain undeserved special treatment.
As Chicago Public Schools students prepare to return to classrooms next week, a group of City Council and General Assembly members say they are “deeply concerned” about the district’s COVID-19 safety plans.
“The delta variant of COVID-19 has demonstrated its stronger transmission among unvaccinated young people, and we are deeply concerned that Chicago Public Schools’ current plan for students and staff to return to school buildings rolls back many important safety mitigation standards that can undermine the district’s objective of increasing equity for students especially in light of an ever-changing pandemic that is increasingly harming younger age groups,” Ald. Maria Hadden, 49th, and Democratic state Sen. Cristina Pacione-Zayas wrote in a letter Sunday to Mayor Lori Lightfoot, Chicago Board of Education President Miguel del Valle and interim CPS CEO José Torres.
The full letter is here. The full list of signatories is here and here.
Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago Teachers Union have hammered out about 25% of a COVID-19 safety agreement with just a week to go until students return to classrooms for full-time in-person learning, the union said Monday as it called on Mayor Lori Lightfoot and her team to “get serious” about working out a full deal.
* Press release…
Rev. & Mrs. Jesse Jackson’s COVID-19 Update
Sunday, August 22, 2021, 6:00 p.m.
Statement by son, Jonathan Jackson
Chicago, IL — Both of my parents have tested positive for the COVID-19 virus, and especially because of their ages, physicians at the Northwestern University Memorial Hospital are carefully monitoring their condition.
Both are resting comfortably and are responding positively to their treatments.
My family appreciates all of the expressions of concern and prayers that have been offered on their behalf, and we will continue to offer our prayers for your family as well. We ask that you continue to pray for the full recovery of our parents. We will continue to update you on a regular basis.
Illinois Senate Republican Leader Dan McConchie (R-Hawthorn Woods) appointed Jeremy Margolis, Co-Chair of White Collar Criminal Defense & Investigations at Loeb & Loeb,to serve on the Legislative Ethics Commission’s search committee tasked with finding qualified candidates for the position of Legislative Inspector General.
“Jeremy’s extensive legal accolades and accomplishments will allow him to bring an experienced perspective to this very important process,” McConchie said. “Specifically his prosecutorial experience and tenure as Director of the Illinois State Police make him uniquely qualified to see the talents, skills and dedication to ethical behavior we need in Illinois government.”
Margolis practices law internationally with an emphasis on grand jury, white collar, and internal investigations, compliance counseling, investigations and complex commercial litigation.
“I am honored to be able to serve Illinois’ Senate leadership in this role,” Margolis said. “I will do all that I can to help enhance the level of integrity in state government and to restore public confidence in what is often viewed as a broken and self-serving system”.
He has tried dozens of United States District Court jury cases to verdict, both for and against the government, and he has briefed and argued over 30 cases in the United States Court of Appeals.
Prior to entering private practice, Jeremy served as an Assistant United States Attorney in Chicago for 11 years, handling many cases of national interest. He conducted complex and sensitive investigations and prosecutions of sophisticated financial schemes, official corruption involving high-ranking federal and state elected and appointed public officials, and organized crime cases ranging from loan sharking to murder. His cases included both domestic and international terrorism involving bombings, air piracy, hostage taking and seditious conspiracy. Jeremy was one of the co-founders and coordinators of the multiagency Chicago Joint Terrorist Task Force, directly responsible for many matters directly affecting national security.
He also served for four years as Director of the Illinois State Police (ISP), a full-service law enforcement agency numbering over 2,500 officers and 1,000 support and laboratory personnel. The ISP’s law enforcement responsibilities include uniformed and tactical patrol, investigations, operating the State Police Academy, and delivering crime laboratory services to Illinois law enforcement agencies through a network of regional laboratories.
In addition, Jeremy served as Illinois Inspector General for three years, overseeing both criminal and regulatory investigations involving child abuse, public health, the environment and public safety. During his appointment as inspector general, he briefly served as Illinois Acting Director of Public Health during a statewide salmonella crisis caused by contaminated milk, which affected over 10,000 child and adult victims. The crisis was resolved with the coordinated involvement of the U.S. FDA and CDC.
Jeremy has lectured extensively at law schools, bar associations and civic organizations, and he has conducted training for state and local prosecutors and local, state and federal law enforcement officers. He is regularly quoted in local and national media, including in hundreds of case-related newspaper and magazine articles, and he has been interviewed on radio and television programs.
Margolis earned his B.A. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign before graduating cum laude from the Northwestern University School of Law. He has received many awards and honors throughout his career including the Anti-Defamation League’s Civil Rights Award, the United States Attorney General’s Award for Distinguished Service and the United States Secret Service Honor Award.
He is a member of the FBI Chicago Chapter of the Society of Former Special Agents and a member of the Board of Governors of the International Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists and a former member of the Board of Directors of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
*** UPDATE *** From one of my syndicated newspaper columns way back in the day…
Margolis is a walking conflict of interest, and that’s the least of his faults. A former director of the Illinois State Police, he first gained notoriety in the 1998 governor’s race, when George Ryan brought him in to investigate allegations that secretary of state workers were handing out commercial drivers licenses to anyone who bought George Ryan campaign-fundraiser tickets.
Margolis took a quick look and declared there was no organized effort to sell licenses for campaign donations, and insisted that no follow-up investigations were needed. And then he began aggressively, and dishonestly, defending Ryan in the media.
“This is campaign time,” he told reporters with a dismissive tone. “Six-hundred-dollar bribes which you wouldn’t normally report are big news now.”
Margolis reviewed a diary kept by secretary of state whistle-blower Tony Berlin, but he claimed when his investigation was complete that the whistle-blower had a “lengthy arrest record,” so Berlin was chalked up as untrustworthy. But after Ryan was safely elected governor, the U.S. attorney revealed that Berlin’s diary was crucial in making bribery cases against Marion Sieble, Berlin’s boss, and others. And Berlin’s supposedly “lengthy” arrest record? He was busted once for DUI. Margolis smeared him.
One of the documents Margolis never mentioned was a memo written a week after the Rev. Scott Willis drove over a piece of metal that had fallen off a semi, which caused his van to blow up and kill all six of his children. In the memo, Secretary of State Inspector General Dean Bauer said he suspected the truck driver, who didn’t speak any English, had bribed his way to a driver’s license. The memo didn’t surface until many months after the 1998 election.
The Margolis influence was felt beyond the license-for-bribes scandal. A Margolis friend at Ryan’s secretary of state office was given the job of spying on a separate state-police investigation into campaign work done on state time.
After Ryan was elected governor, Margolis chaired a gubernatorial transition committee and began “monitoring” the federal corruption investigation for the governor.
It wasn’t long before Ryan’s campaign was paying Margolis to represent almost all the Ryan employees who were receiving visits from FBI agents and testifying before grand juries.
* My parents had five boys. Whenever we were on a road trip and their passel of sons was starting to get restless and unruly, my father would warn us with what he called “The three S’s”…
Rod Blagojevich is looking for some heavy-duty polish to spiff up his sullied reputation. He thinks he may have found it. The disgraced ex-governor has filed a lawsuit seeking to nullify the ban on him running for office — either statewide or locally.
“If I were to fall dead right here, my obituary in tomorrow’s papers wouldn’t be that good,” he told a gaggle of reporters earlier this month outside the Dirksen Federal Building, adding that he wanted to pursue “things with my life where that obituary can be corrected.” […]
We have a message for Rod. You can spiff up that reputation faster than you can say Roland Burris. Simply make the ultimate sacrifice, and step away from that limelight you crave so dearly. Your 15 minutes are up. Just walk away. Embrace a private life.
I’d add an admonition to ABC 7 for producing a “documentary” on Blagojevich that the station hyped with “exclusive” coverage of his goofy lawsuit.
