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*** UPDATED x7 *** Pritzker: “This ruling has put the people of Illinois at risk”

Monday, Apr 27, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller

*** UPDATE 1 *** Some clarity…


…Adding… If you look at Bailey’s complaint, he only asked that the restrictions be lifted on himself. Which shows you how much of a grandstanding move this was.

*** UPDATE 2 *** Pritzker’s chief of staff…


*** UPDATE 3 *** This judge sounds like a real treat…


*** UPDATE 4 *** More…


*** UPDATE 5 *** Speaker Madigan has been almost totally silent in the last several weeks, but he issued this statement today…

Like Governor Pritzker, I find Representative Bailey’s lawsuit to be extremely reckless, at a time we can least afford it. The governor’s actions have consistently reflected an understanding that, as we face this crisis, we must be guided by what is right – not what is easy, comfortable or expedient. Clearly, we cannot say the same for all the leaders of our state.

It is my sincere hope that upon further review, this decision is reversed, and that our health care workers, first responders and loved ones are not unnecessarily subjected to added risk by such a short-sighted lawsuit.

*** UPDATE 6 *** Leader Durkin…

Today’s ruling is the first regarding the Governors authority from his Executive Orders during this time of pandemic. I expect a quick appeal to the higher courts as this is a case of first impression and one that needs to be dealt with on an expedited basis. We will be following the case closely as it progresses.

*** UPDATE 7 *** The governor’s office says the attorney general’s office filed the notice of appeal tonight and the brief is due Wednesday.

Also, from Senate President Don Harmon…

Today’s ruling doesn’t change the fact that nearly 2,000 Illinoisans have died from this disease in recent weeks and thousands more remain hospitalized, struggling to maintain their health. I would appeal to everyone’s common sense. A dangerous, highly infectious virus is loose in our communities. You have stayed inside and practiced social distancing because you know it’s the right thing to do. You’ve done it because you care about your family, friends and neighbors. Today’s ruling doesn’t change any of that. This virus isn’t paying attention to judicial orders.

Please, be patient, recognize the dangers and keep following the advice of our medical professionals and public health experts.

Rep. Darren Bailey…

Clay County Chief Circuit Judge Michael D. McHaney ruled in favor of State Rep. Darren Bailey’s challenge to Governor J.B. Pritizker’s statewide ‘stay at home’ order during a Monday court hearing, granting Bailey a temporary restraining order that only covers the Representative. However, Bailey says he will continue to push the issue and hold the Governor responsible to the public health laws already on the books.

“Our governor has acted as if he knows best, but he does not know what’s best for all 12 million residents in our state,” said Bailey (R-Xenia). “We have a mechanism in place through the Illinois Department of Public Health; and how to act during a pandemic was laid out many years ago, long before J.B. Pritzker came to office. I’ve asked him since day one to respect local governments throughout the state and he’s refused, but I believe this lawsuit is the mechanism by which ‘we the people’ will be allowed to govern ourselves as our constitution demands.”

Bailey’s attorney Tom DeVore said Illinois has had a pandemic/influenza response plan in place for many years, a plan approved by the Illinois legislature, that is a 120-page guide that covers the current COVID-19 situation.

“It’s called the state of Illinois Department of Public Health Pandemic/Influenza Preparedness and Response Plan,” said DeVore. “It’s a law promulgated by the legislative branch that lays out how the Department of Public Health is to manage these types of pandemics. It’s very detailed. It’s working now. I’ve talked to my county health department and they use this plan now. It’s very effective and more importantly it contains due process within the law for individuals pertaining to a quarantine.”

“The comments by Judge McHaney make it clear in my opinion that the governor or the legislative leaders could have called us back into session to debate and clarify the emergency powers, but they have not done so. The U.S. Congress has met using common sense distancing and even local city councils and county boards have been meeting with the use of technology like Zoom. The only other option at this point to ensure the checks and balances of power in Illinois are through the courts,” added Bailey.

Bailey argued that under state law, Pritzker could not extend his first executive order beyond 30 days. Another court hearing on a permanent injunction is expected within 30 days.

Mayor Lightfoot…

Today’s ruling is troubling and wrong. I understand that the State Attorney General’s office will appeal this ruling, which we support. One of the many problems with this ill-advised opinion is that it will destroy the collective progress we have made, giving Illinoisans the wrong impression that we have beaten the COVID-19 pandemic. Let me remind everyone that the Governor’s Stay at Home Order has played a crucial role in our data-driven, robust response to COVID-19. In fact, recently published City data has shown that staying at home and limiting human interaction is one of the major reasons why Chicago is beginning to see the flattening of the curve. And let me be clear, this does not mean that we can, nor should, return to our normal day-to-day lives, in fact it means the opposite. Continued compliance will be needed to keep flattening the curve and ultimately lead to a decrease in cases. Contrary to what this ruling suggests, we must all be in this together, and only through cooperation and collaboration can we contain and limit the effects of the virus.

I applaud and unequivocally support Governor Pritzker’s actions to extend the Stay at Home order to protect all Illinois residents. Nothing about today’s ruling will change the City’s intention to continue imposing the Stay at Home restrictions. We need this effort to keep all Chicagoans safe and healthy, and we will stay the course.

[ *** End Of Updates *** ]

* The governor was just asked a question about Rep. Bailey’s lawsuit: Governor, a judge just ruled that your stay at home order in Darren Bailey’s lawsuit is no longer able to stand. We’re still getting the details of what that order means but would you like to react to that?

I would. I have affirmed many times over that Republicans and Democrats alike, public servants from all corners of Illinois have come together since the earliest days of this public health crisis to make incredibly difficult choices, understanding that painful as our actions might be the question boils down to life and death. COVID-19 is responsible for denying the people of Illinois the precious moments of togetherness and steadiness of routine that have been put on pause in response to this global pandemic. The stay at home order has prevented 10s of thousands of illnesses and thousands of deaths.

Representative Darren Bailey’s decision to take to the courts to try and dismantle public health directives, designed to keep people safe is an insult to all Illinoisans who have been lost during this COVID-19 crisis and it’s a danger to millions of people who may get ill, because of his recklessness, at best, no one is better off because of this ruling and at worst people’s health and safety will suffer tremendously.

In Illinois and nationally we are operating on decades of precedent in terms of how disaster proclamations work from floods to tornadoes and now a global pandemic disasters don’t necessarily evaporate on a 30 day timeframe.

In the interim, we will be issuing new public health directives so that we can continue to respond to this public health crisis. At this time I strongly encourage all municipal level leaders, as well as the people of Illinois, who are our strongest weapon against this virus to follow the advice of our scientists here in Illinois and across the nation of IDPH and the CDC and continue to follow the guidelines of are stay at home order.

This ruling has put the people of Illinois at risk.

I sincerely hope that this matter will be brought to a swift resolution so that we can go back to placing our undivided attention on the work of keeping people safe.

Please pardon transcription errors.

* Follow-up from Mary Ann Ahern: So, if the judge is saying, Darren Bailey’s right, you might not have this authority. So every city, every county is going to go ahead and say, guess what we’re opening…

That is the danger that Darren Bailey has put the state in. You’ve just stated it perfectly succinctly.

People are in danger as a result of this ruling of the judge’s ruling of the suit that was brought by Darren Bailey. We certainly are going to act in a swift fashion to try to have this ruling overturned, certainly put a stay in place.

I mean it’s frankly, it’s insulting, it’s dangerous. And peoples’ safety and health has now been put at risk. There may be people who contract Corona virus as a result of what Darren Bailey has done now.

* How quickly can you act because I would think people are going to try to supersede them very quickly?

The Attorney General handles these kinds of lawsuits there people are on site and there people are handling the appeals that will take place

…Adding… Unrelated question that Pritzker brought back to this particular topic: How do you see the handling of COVID-19 affecting political political discourse in Illinois and across the country as we lead up to the November election?…

I think that I can see that people want to make this a political issue. From my perspective this is a matter of life and death. We all want to be on the same side on those subjects. So I’m hoping that this doesn’t devolve into the politics that I think, often people at the federal level like to make it. And obviously you can see that there are legislators who don’t understand this who think that everything is fodder for the political world.

But I must say that there are Republicans that I have worked with who are genuinely concerned to do the right thing in the state of Illinois and of course Democrats have been terrific, working with some of those Republicans, working with me to make sure that we’re making progress at lowering our hospitalizations and all the other things that we’re trying to do here. But it is vital, vital that we work together to keep people safe and that means following the orders that we put in place, which obviously you know Darren Bailey has now put at risk.

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Pritzker talks about hospitalization numbers, Downstate infection rates - “Of the top five counties by infection rate, two of them are downstate” - Pritzker apologizes for claim about dentists - Explains that testing has moved us up the list of most cases - Responds to Trump tweet - Says federal government offered more help with testing - Asked about pension reform - Asked whether it was time to lay off workers and if state workers are actually working - Asked about conventions and large gatherings - Says phone lines at IDES still a big problem - Explains why he’s not following Ohio’s lead - Explains how 14-day decline is defined - Watching meat industry, but doesn’t yet believe a meat shortage is imminent - Refuses to undermine Lightfoot on boating ban - Explains death rate - R0 still above 1 - Working with legislators on workers’ comp changes - Says Pence says Trump still wants to help state and local governments - Will ask GA to expand mail-in balloting

Monday, Apr 27, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Gov. Pritzker began his press conference by listing statistics. He also plans to talk about regionalization today. Please pardon all transcription errors…

On April 6, we had 3680 COVID patients in our hospitals. On April 10 that number had risen to 4020. On April 14, that number had risen to 4283. On April 19 the number had risen to 4599. And as of midnight last night, the number was 4672, an increase of 73 Illinoisans in one week’s time. To remind you these hospitalization numbers include both COVID-19 patients and assumed COVID-19 patients in the hospital in any condition, whether mild or serious.

I’ll offer the same time series progression for our COVID occupied ICU beds as I did for overall hospitalization rates. Remember, our institutions have worked to expand their bed capacity, which is why our overall bed numbers and ICU bed capacity, have increased. On April 6 COVID patients occupied 43% of our 2700 ICU beds in Illinois. On April 10, it was 40% of 2900 ICU beds. On April 14 40% of 3000 ICU beds, and on April 19 40% of 3100 ICU beds, and as of midnight last night. 34% of 3600 ICU beds.

We also keep an eye trained on the number of Illinoisans with COVID-19, who are on ventilators, even as our medical professionals work to innovate ways to help patients, avoid this very difficult though potentially life saving measure of the 4672 Illinoisans in the hospital. 763 are on ventilators. That means 23% of our total ventilator inventory is currently in use by COVID-19 patients, the same ratio as it was on April 19 one week ago. That’s following a downward trend from 29% on April 6, then 27% on April 10 than 25% on April 14.

* Now on to the folks who think they’re safe…

I want to stop and take a moment now to address those who think that coronavirus is just a Chicago or a Cook County problem and that downstate Illinois is immune or doesn’t need restrictions. Folks that’s just not how this virus operates.

COVID-19 knows no county or regional boundaries. It’s clear that some people are simply looking at the number of cases in a county and not looking at the infection rate.

Of the top five counties by infection rate, two of them are downstate. In order, that’s Cook County, Jasper, Lake, Will and Randolph Even more troubling, COVID-19 has played a role in the deaths of Illinoisans in 42 of our counties around the state. With the top two rates of death per capita being in Jasper County and Monroe County.

That means you’re more likely to die of COVID-19 if you live in either of those two counties than if you live in Chicago or in Cook County.

* More on regionalization…

When these factors are taken into account, the overall picture around COVID-19 in Illinois is quite different than many have assumed. Yes, in terms of total case numbers and total lives lost Cook and the collar counties constitute the largest segment of COVID-19 known presence in Illinois. That’s indisputable. But it would be doing a massive disservice to our downstate residents if we governed only by raw numbers, no matter where you live. I want you to be healthy and safe and following the advice of the scientists and experts is what has kept people in every region of our state alive.

It’s true that there are a much larger number of cases and deaths in the metropolitan region around Chicago, but it’s also home to nearly two of every three Illinoisans, and it’s home too much of the overall hospital capacity that’s needed if there’s another surge of the virus.

It’s also true that there are areas of the state that have lower infection rates, and I’ve already begun opening those areas up more with allowance for more elective surgeries and recreational activity there than in other regions.

* Talks about outreach…

Every week I call Republican and Democratic mayors and legislators to hear their best ideas and talk through how I’m thinking through the decisions that need to be made.

Some really good ideas have come from those calls. We don’t always agree but it’s always a two way dialogue.

I understand that the choices that I’ve made and that I have had to make aren’t easy. And there are some that disagree with them. But I’ve made each decision with a laser like focus on the health and safety of every resident, and with a strong desire to get us back to work and school. As soon as it’s safe, frankly, the decisions have, most often been very difficult. Often choosing between saving lives and saving livelihoods. But thousands of Illinoisans are still with us today because nearly all of your earnest effort to follow our stay at home order. And so that’s a decision that I’m extraordinarily proud to have made.

And I’m going to keep making my decisions about defeating this terrible virus by focusing on the most important factors. Following the science, monitoring and building up our healthcare systems, listening to local leaders and keeping Illinois families and workers top of mind, all in an effort to do the right thing for all of Illinois.

* The governor said he wanted to clear up something he said over the weekend about dentists…

Our executive order did not close dental offices, but IDPH has issued guidance to dentists, focusing their work on more emergency procedures. That guidance remains in place. Dental procedures are high risk for dentists and for their staff, and we’re going to continue working with the medical experts as we move forward. But right now, dental procedures should be limited to urgent health issues and emergencies, and I apologize for any confusion that my comments may have caused.

* On to questions for the governor. We have moved to number four in the number of when you list states. And we are not number four in population. What do you think what’s going on, is it that just we’re testing more? How did we surpass California?…

Yeah, notice that our testing numbers have gone way up right oh just over the last week. We’ve averaged more than 10,000 per day. And that’s significantly up from where we were before. And if you look at most states, they’re not testing anywhere near as much as we are now. So, actually it’s a point of some pride, what we’ve done on testing. But if you test more people, as we’ve said, there are lots and lots of people out there who do not know that they have Coronavirus, because they haven’t been tested as you test more people, you’re going to get more positive cases.

* President Trump tweeted this morning, why should the people and taxpayers bail out poorly run states, like, Illinois…

Well I have two things that I would say to that. One is that as you know we are a donor state to the federal government. We pay more in federal taxes in Illinois than we get back from the federal government. And so actually the states who are being bailed out every year year in and year out are the states who take more out of the Federal dole than they put in. […]

That’s one thing I would say, the other is that unlike Donald Trump we proposed and passed and have effectuated a balanced budget for the year that we’re in. Had it not been for coronavirus, we would have had actually a surplus in the state of Illinois. So to the extent that we’re talking about and we are about the federal government providing funding for states, all states need it now because coronavirus COVID-19 has blown a hole in every state budget all across the nation. There’s not a single state that would not benefit from, or that does not need support from another CARES Act package.

* Were you on the call today from the White House, and any new insight?…

I wouldn’t say there’s any new insight there’s more talk about testing, and the federal government offering help with testing which is terrific. They have offered help before and I’m looking forward to our ability to obtain more swabs and more reagent and VTM through the federal government as they are promising.

* My colleague Craig Wall wants to know is it time to consider pension reform…

Well, as you know, we did make some pension reforms we as you know the police and fire pensions across the state were dramatically reformed this last year under my leadership and working with the legislature.

We certainly need to keep working on our pensions. You know I’ve said as principles here that we need to make sure that people who are owed a pension are paid the pension that they’re owed. And I want to make sure that people understand how important it is that we support our seniors when they’ve worked a lifetime for that pension, whether they’re police officers or firefighters or state workers in any way. So, I continue to believe in the idea of supporting seniors when they retire. So, we’ll continue to look at the ways we proposed several ways last year that weren’t yet adopted to make changes in the pension system and we’ll continue to look at everything and anything

* Others are asking, perhaps is it time to lay off some state workers? Are those who are supposedly working from home, really working from home? And when there is not as much to do, perhaps they should get unemployment as well instead of getting paid by the state for doing nothing?…

Well, certainly, number one we’ve asked people to stay home, number two we have actually done quite a lot to make sure that people can work from home, and you know all these departments, think about what’s happening in IDES, think about what’s happening at the Department of Human Services, right in this pandemic. And with so many people laid off right, we have our state needs to function well. And so we’re working with stay at home employees who are connected now, and have the ability to work for and with residents of the state who badly need them.

* He was asked a question about staggered school weeks. He said it was up to ISBE, IBHE and the community college board. He was then asked about conventions and gatherings of thousands of people…

Look, I don’t know. It seems to me that we don’t yet even have a treatment. So I don’t know that people will even want to go to events like that and be in the midst of thousands of people. Because the idea that there’s some percentage likelihood that you may contract COVID-19 by attending an event like that might keep people away. So I’m not going to dictate anything and we have a stay at home order from now until May 30. We’re making plans for the phase dreopening of the economy.

It’s unclear to me about large gatherings, those seem like harder things to get done than for example opening manufacturing facilities where you could be able to keep people six feet apart wearing PPE and make sure the lunch rooms are not crowded and so on. These are things that we’ve looked at and are continuing to look at, to make sure that we’re doing it right in in a phased fashion but as to whether a large convention could fit into an early phase, I don’t know.

* He was asked again about baseball, particularly about playing games without fans. Pritzker said that would likely be up to MLB. For Dr. Ezike: How many have died from COVID-19 that do not have any other underlying health condition?…

Nationally, the numbers are vanishingly small, less than 10% I think I saw something like 6% and that might have been a global number, so in the general statistics, Illinois has been similar to what the aggregate larger numbers have so I would say that it’s going to be definitely under 10% maybe even in the single digits.

* People who are getting nowhere on the [unemployment application] system, they’re frustrated they can’t get an answer. They’re broke. A week ago you announced there would be some more help or answers to this. What are you telling the folks who cannot find out what to do about unemployment?…

Well the first thing I would say is that we’ve processed nearly, more or in the neighborhood of 800,000 unemployment applications at this point, it’s about 10 times every day what was being done last year at this time. So, it’s a significant effort that’s been put into making the system easier for people to get through.

Now, I think the problem, to be clear, has been the phone lines there. Remember I said a little while ago, that you have to have trained personnel, and this training is for a trained personnel that are answering the lines, because the information is private information. And so people have to be trained to handle that properly. There is a federal guideline for that training and that training takes longer than the time that we have to handle something within a week for example so we’re working very expeditiously to try to ramp all that up.

But I just want to remind you that virtually every state is having trouble managing the influx of unemployment applications. We are working night and day. I watch those numbers every day, I see how many are coming in over the internet, how many are coming in by phone, and the increase of numbers of people who get their phone calls answered. Again, I can’t, you know we can’t fix this overnight it’s absolutely true. But we are fixing it and it has been radically better over time.

* Ohio, which is part of the regional coalition with Illinois, is announcing plans to reopen segments of the economy starting Friday. Will this impact what happens in Illinois? And what’s the point of a coalition if the states are acting independently on such important decisions?…

Well, you have to remember that every state has a slightly different curve. And so decisions about timing are different than decisions about what might open.

The other thing is that this is a council in part of governors who share ideas with one another about how best to go about the opening. So, remember we are still climbing on our curve and I just talked to you about how that’s a slowing climb, which is a good thing, but we are still on this side of the peak, and I’m hoping there’s not a plateau.

I haven’t looked at the numbers for Ohio but obviously Governor Dewine is seeing something different in Ohio if he feels like Friday is a good day for them to begin to discuss and talk about how often and what’s you know what kind of insight did they give you. We’ve had calls. And we’re sharing the kind of commonalities, what are you doing about manufacturing, what are you doing about warehousing, how are you handling those things within your state. Those are things that are very important that that we share in common with states, and therefore, each of us offering ideas for one another.

One of the important topics the last time we were on the phone together was how is everybody working to provide support for our smallest small businesses, many of whom can’t access the PPP money, because they don’t have lawyers and accountants and so on. And so, listening to how each state, by the way, Illinois has solutions for that that we’ve implemented. You know, having limited state resources for all these states makes it harder, but we’re all doing slightly different but important things to lift up. I’m particularly interested in these because these smallest businesses are the ones that create the most jobs. And so, I’m the one who’s asked that question of my colleagues

* Once we reached our peak, is the 14-day decline based on the number of hospital beds in use ICU patients, or the percentage of new cases?…

Remember the whole idea here, the aim is to make sure that we’re not going to overwhelm our hospitals and our healthcare system in general so that’s how we choose one of those statistics we’re watching.

It’s very important the question of hospitalizations, are we going down the other side of that, are we going down the other side of ICU, and are we continuing to go down the other side of ventilators. Because right now ventilators, we’ve increased the number of ventilators, and it appears that the number of people on ventilators roughly speaking has leveled. And so I expect that to be one of the first things that goes down, in part because doctors have done such a good job of keeping people off of ventilators and having them recover without going on them.

So those are the things, hospitalizations I see us those are certainly things that we look at that are very important for making a decision on the other side of the peak. Remember, the peak I’m hopeful that the peak is actually a peak, and that not as we’ve seen in some other states, a plateau.

* He was asked again if hospitals were getting more money for treating COVID-19 patients. He said it could be in the federal CARES Act, but he didn’t know.

* Are you concerned about the meat shortage that might happen?…

Well, concerned in the sense that we’re monitoring it closely our Department of Agriculture, our Department of Public Health, our local county departments of public health. We’re all paying very close attention to those meat producers and processors. But I don’t currently believe that we are going to have a problem with our supply chain, but again we’re watching it very closely.

* He was asked again about boating on Lake Michigan and again said that this was a local decision and therefore up to people like Mayor Lightfoot, who doesn’t want to allow it.

* How many IDOC prisoners have been released through medical furlough and how many had been granted commutations or clemency due to COVID concerns? Why haven’t lawmakers who have requested information about criteria for releases received answers?…

We’ll be happy to provide information to anyone. I don’t have the numbers right here, but happy to I can tell you that we’ve overall reduced the population in our prisons by, I know it’s more than 1300. Overall, many of those were near the end of their terms are actually their sentences were up, but also many of them were under this program of either medical furloughs due to COVID-19 or other reasons pardons or commutations on my part.

* Iceland has done the most COVID-19 testing per capita in the world, and as a result has a very low death rate. Of course Iceland is very different from the US in a lot of ways, but is it possible that if Illinois caught up on testing our death rate wouldn’t actually be the current 4.5% and would actually be much lower? What is the death rate that’s being assumed in the modeling beliefs on Thursday that was used to show that at the current stay at home water restrictions were loosened 20,000 or so people would die in a second wave?…

[Pritzker talked about the importance of testing and then said] I’d like to just disabuse anybody of the notion of a 4.5% death rate. The fact is that if you look internationally and in the United States, it is presumed that there is about a 1%, a little less than 1%, of people who get COVID-19 who pass away from it. The 4.5% that you’re calculating is just the cases that we’ve been able to identify, by virtue of the limited testing that we’ve had available. So it is a much lower rate than than 4.5% we assume.

* Do you believe Illinois has reached its peak what is the current R0?…

Dr. Ezike: As the governor has said, we are growing so slowly in the numbers in terms of the rate of rise that we think we are coming upon it very shortly. So again, not being able to predict whether we will just continually increment versus we’re going to hit it in a few days and start coming down, versus like he said he’s hoping not to have a plateau but there’s a potential for just staying at a level number for an extended period of time. We don’t know when we’re off the peak and heading down until we are, unfortunately. And so the models and the predictions can only do so much. But it’s actually going to be the data that will tell us when we’ve reached.

There is another part of the question, what is our current R0. The last time we looked at it it was one point, I think 1.4. And so I should be getting some updated numbers this week.

* When does the Illinois legislature need to meet to begin to make its own decisions about the budget, and when the legislature is in next what sort of protections will you ask for, and for which classes of workers in light of the workers compensation commission today rescinding the rebuttal presumption of the COVID-19 rule?…

It’s up to the legislature. There’s no requirement terms for the budget by May 31. If the legislature votes on a budget it needs to have a simple majority to approve a budget.

After May 31, it’s a super majority vote for a budget. So again that’s whenever the legislature decides to meet and, you know, given the circumstances and they are considered essential workers so they’ll be able to figure it out. It is quite complex though as you may know, between staff and 177 Senators and House members, yo organizing all of that in the Capitol building or really anywhere else is quite complex and I think that’s taking some time. […]

[We are] having discussions that are proposals by legislators about things that that we should do [on workers comp] to protect our workers as best we can during this pandemic. And so I’ll be very supportive of measures that will keep them safe.

* What will the impact be if Illinois does not get any federal aid to make up for the loss of revenue amid the pandemic? And do you think your criticism of the President has substantially reduced your chance of getting that aid?…

First of all, if we don’t get any further federal aidit will be extremely difficult, not just for the state of Illinois but for many states, not just for the ones that have Democratic governors but for Republican states as well.

So I know that the President has said that he’s in favor, despite a tweet today, he’s in favor of support for the state for state and local governments. I would like to make sure that the smaller local governments receive support in this next bill, not just the large counties are large cities over 500,000, but small towns, all across the state of Illinois and all across the nation should get support.

So I’m in favor of that and I think the President is in favor of that and indeed, Vice President Pence in our call yesterday reiterated that fact that the President is supportive of that, so I feel pretty good about where they are on it. Obviously, it’s Senator McConnell that is an obstacle here and considering that he comes from a state that gets more money from the federal government than it gives in federal taxes, he’s a recipient state of a lot of support from the federal government.

* He was asked a question about a local nursing home and was then asked about Rep. Bailey’s lawsuit. Click here for that answer.

* What is the state doing now or what does it plan to do to prepare for the November election, and how is it ramping up mail-in voting?…

So, as you know there is some federal funding available to support changes in our elections, so that we can make sure that people have the ability to vote, even in the presence of coronavirus.

Our intention, my intention at the moment is to ask the legislature to expand mail balloting I think that having everybody giving everybody the ability to vote by mail, much more easily makes the most sense to me as a way to prevent people from contracting coronavirus. And so I will be asking the legislature to do that and then of course the Illinois Board of Elections has been thinking about this and preparing for it for some time. And we look forward to working with them, advising them and and making sure the legislature gives them whatever they need in order to effectuate more mail-in ballots.

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1,980 new cases, 50 additional deaths

Monday, Apr 27, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Press release…

– The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today announced 1,980 new cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including 50 additional deaths.

    - Boone County: 1 female 90s
    - Champaign County: 1 female 60s
    - Cook County: 1 female 30s, 1 male 30s, 2 males 40s, 2 females 50s, 3 males 50s,
    1 female 60s, 2 males 60s, 3 females 70s, 8 males 70s, 4 females 80s, 6 males 80s, 1 male
    90s
    - DuPage County: 1 male 60s, 1 male 70s
    - Jasper County: 1 female 80s
    - Jefferson County: 1 female 80s, 1 male 80s, 1 female 90s
    - Madison County: 1 female 60s
    - Rock Island County: 1 male 50s, 1 male 70s
    - Sangamon County: 2 males 80s
    - Will County: 1 male 50s, 1 male 70s, 1 female 80s

Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 45,883 cases, including 1,983 deaths, in 96 counties in Illinois. The age of cases ranges from younger than one to older than 100 years. Within the past 24 hours, laboratories have processed 12,676 specimens for a total of 227,628.

  3 Comments      


COVID-19 roundup

Monday, Apr 27, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Molly Parker and Brian Munoz at the Southern Illinoisan

After initially reporting a small outbreak of COVID-19 at an immigration detention center in rural Southern Illinois in early April, county officials and the health department have clammed up about the spread of the virus inside the facility, even as advocates say detainees have been left in the dark and are fearful for their lives. […]

What’s happening inside one small detention center in Illinois raises important questions about how ICE and its contractors are handling the spread of the coronavirus. COVID-19 was introduced into the facility following a transfer of detainees on April 1, documents reveal, well after advocates sounded the alarm on the need for ICE — and other correctional institutions — to stop making unnecessary transfers. The purpose behind the recent transfer to the Pulaski County Detention Center is unknown as ICE and county officials have declined comment. […]

County officials have sought to tamp down concerns in Pulaski County as they’ve worried over whether news of an outbreak could lead to protests among detainees and immigrant rights’ groups and cost them a lucrative contract with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Jail fees bring in more than $8 million annually to the county of fewer than 5,500 people.

“You know, it’s just, you know, there’s not just a whole lot more we can say at the moment without jeopardizing Pulaski County’s relationship with ICE and the ICE contract. That’s what I just wish everybody would realize,” said Rex Wilburn, Pulaski County Board chairman, after the health department confirmed the first three cases among detainees there on April 9.

After initially disclosing that Pulaski County’s first cases of COVID-19 involved detainees, the Southern Seven Health Department, which covers the county, said it had changed its policy for releasing whether cases involved people in congregate settings. It has also directed another area health department not to disclose cases involving Pulaski County Detention Center employees to the media.

Go read the whole thing.

* Joe Mahr and Patrick M. O’Connell at the Chicago Tribune

The state released figures this weekend that showed a dramatic jump in deaths of those linked to long-term care facilities — to 625, more than double reported a week ago.

The latest figures compiled by the state showed that, as of a Friday count, at least 278 facilities had 4,298 cases of residents or workers testing positive. Illinois Department of Public Health figures from the prior week reported 186 facilities, with 286 deaths out of 1,860 cases.

As of now, a third of all Illinois deaths from the virus have been tied to long-term care facilities.

* Press release…

Illinois Fraternal Order of Police State Lodge President Chris Southwood, Illinois State Troopers Lodge 41 President Joe Moon, and Illinois Fraternal Order of Police Labor Council Executive Director Shawn Roselieb issued the following joint statement after Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul determined that the addresses of those with positive COVID-19 test results could be shared with first responders so they are fully aware of the danger when they answer calls for assistance:

“The coronovirus has already killed several first responders in Illinois, and Attorney General Raoul’s ruling will help save the lives of those who remain in the front-line fight against this menace. First responders can’t see a virus, and not sharing these vital test results is like sending a police officer to a dangerous area without a bullet-proof vest. Sharing only with first responders during an enforcement action the addresses, but not the names, of those with positive test results is certainly better than publishing a funeral notice for another first responder who could have been saved by a simple piece of information.”

* Chicago Tribune’s live blog

Illinois repeals controversial worker’s compensation rule that presumed front-line workers with COVID-19 got it on the job

10th inmate in Illinois prison dies from a COVID-19-related illness: officials

Coronavirus victims tell their stories to dispel fear, stigma. Experts warn that some minority patients are being blamed for getting sick.

CDC adds six COVID-19 symptoms to its list, but many doctors, hospitals already had been using them

Farmers markets in some suburbs this year ‘won’t be the leisurely experience people are used to’

The law denies stimulus checks to Americans married to immigrants in the U.S. illegally. An Illinois man alleges that’s discrimination.

New poll shows rising support for mail-in voting due to coronavirus concerns, but Trump’s opposition resonating with GOP voters

Chicago health department launching app to communicate with those with COVID-19, prepare for vaccinations

Coronavirus school shutdown has been particularly tough on kids with disabilities: ‘It’s not just a disruption. We’re going to see kids who actually go backward.’

Chicago’s curve is flattening, but “not on the way back down yet,” public health commissioner says

* Sun-Times live blog

Chicago Loop Alliance cancels 2020 ACTIVATE season

We’re stuck at home, bars are closed: homebrew industry is exploding

‘You’re literally putting everyone around you in danger’: Pritzker responds to viral house party video

Small-business loan program resumes Monday morning: Here’s what you should know

South Side LGBTQ pride festival moves online amid COVID-19 concerns

Civic boosters look at promoting a post-pandemic city

A laugh amid the pandemic? It’s harder than you think

Chicago’s blues musicians, clubs hit hard by pandemic: ‘There’s gonna be a lot of songs to come from this’

* Roundup…

* Coronavirus antibody tests: Can you trust the results?

* ‘The food supply chain is breaking,’ Tyson says as plants close

* Want a mask contract or some ventilators? A White House connection helps

* Kids are ending up in intensive care for COVID-related syndrome, British doctors says

* Smithfield Idles Illinois Pork Plants Over Virus

* How hard will the coronavirus pandemic hit Illinois school finances and for how long?

* Workers Offer Troubling View Inside Chicago Nursing Homes Fighting COVID-19

* A Chicago nurse returned to work after recovering from coronavirus. His cough came back. He tested 2 more times and got different results.

* South Side Leaders Call On Walgreens To Open Coronavirus Test Site There

* Judge mandates additional social distancing rules at Cook County Jail

* Guns, abortion and COVID-19 opportunism — what Gov. Pritzker got right: “When an anti-gun Democrat governor declares that essential businesses include firearm and ammunition suppliers and retailers for the purposes of safety and security, that is a really big deal,” said Alan Gottlieb, executive vice president of the Second Amendment Foundation. “Every governor should copy the Illinois example when issuing shelter-in-place and business closure orders in the face of the coronavirus.”

* Sangamon County: Two more resident deaths from The Villas in Sherman

* Residents call for Near North luxury tower to close hotel, say it’s a ‘significant health risk’

* Illinois State University officials considering options for fall semester

  5 Comments      


If you want to be governor, run for governor

Monday, Apr 27, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller

* I agree with this HGOP press release on the need for more process transparency. But, as we’ve discussed before, Pritzker is not doing anything at all different when it comes to transparency that any of his predecessors going back multiple decades, notwithstanding the dark hints below.

By law, the Illinois Prisoner Review Board makes “confidential recommendations to the Governor” on commutations. A different statute allows the Director of the Department of Corrections to grant furloughs without notification of anyone at the state level.

* Anyway, on to the press release…

Illinois House Republicans are asking for more transparency and open communications from the Illinois Department of Corrections and the Pritzker administration on policy changes and communications regarding prison furloughs or inmates released early during the coronavirus pandemic.

State Rep. Avery Bourne (R-Morrisonville), whose district includes correctional centers in Taylorville and Hillsboro, said inmates released into her district include high-level drug and meth dealers.

“As a co-equal branch of government, we should not have had to learn through news reports that these inmates had been released into the general population,” said Rep. Bourne. “Governor Pritzker, his staff, and Acting Director Jeffreys have ignored our repeated requests for information. None of them have been forthcoming with facts or the rationale behind to their decision-making, and today we renew our request. Additionally, we want to know why the Governor is being so secretive about these furloughs.”

On April 9, 2020, 22 House Republican members sent a letter to IDOC Director Jeffreys laying out their questions and concerns. So far, they have not received a response. In fact, several letters from various members of the House Republican caucus have been sent to the administration and the Department on different subject matters relating to DOC. To date, no answers have been provided to the lawmakers by either the Governor or DOC.

State Rep. Terri Bryant says she has asked the governor and the DOC about the release of undocumented immigrants without notifying local law enforcement officials, why a correctional facility lockdown was not implemented sooner to stop the spread of COVID-19, and what criteria was used to determine the release of more than 1300 Department of Corrections offenders.

“The people of Illinois have the right to understand the rationale being used by the Pritzker administration in making critical decisions regarding the operations at the IDOC,” Bryant said. “Far from seeking our advice, the Governor has simply ignored requests from members of the General Assembly for more information. As a co-equal branch of government, we have a right and a duty to demand transparency from the governor.”

In the April 9 letter to Jeffreys, House Republicans sought information about the parameters used to decide which inmates qualified for furloughs or early release, the type of oversight that is in place to monitor furloughed inmates, and if victims and communities were notified ahead of time prior to each prisoner’s release. They also asked for a complete list of furloughed offenders and any inmates released early due to coronavirus, and the crimes for which they were serving time.

State Rep. Tom Bennett (R-Gibson City), whose legislative district includes the Pontiac Correctional Center and is home to several employees of the Danville Correctional Center, also expressed disappointment in the lack of information that has been shared about the early release of hundreds of offenders.

“While the Governor may have executive powers to make unilateral decisions during this time, his administration should be more transparent and forthcoming when they are making decisions that affect the safety of the people and communities of the State of Illinois,” Rep Bennett said.

State Rep. John Cabello (R-Machesney Park), who has worked for more than 20 years as a police officer and detective, suggested the Governor is using the Coronavirus pandemic to further his cause of releasing criminals, many of whom were given multiple chances and received sentences as repeat offenders.

“I will hold Governor Pritzker personally responsible if any of the murderers or other violent felons he has released hurt another person,” said Rep. Cabello. “If they do, I will make it my mission in life to make sure the victims, their families, and the public know that offender was back on the streets and able to victimize them because of Governor JB Pritzker’s actions.”

As far as the “criteria” being used to release prisoners, Rep. Bryant should probably read the relevant EO and the accompanying statute. It’s in there.

Look, the role of the legislature is to legislate, not “consult” on executive decision-making aside from the Senate’s advice and consent role in nominations. So, if they want to come back and legislate, they need to direct their ire at the House Speaker and the Senate President.

  12 Comments      


Multiple disaster declarations are actually common - And a look at that appellate prosecutor’s memo

Monday, Apr 27, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller

[I’m bumping this up from Sunday for visibility and opening comments ahead of today’s hearing.]

* Let’s circle back to Friday

State Rep. Darren Bailey filed a lawsuit today (April 23) against Governor J.B. Pritzker for a violation of civil rights.

“My lawsuit asks the court to find that Gov. Pritzker overextended his power by issuing additional ‘stay at home’ orders after his original disaster proclamation, which expired on April 9th, 2020,” said Bailey

State statute allows a governor to declare a disaster for 30 days. That is undisputed, even by Bailey. The law is silent, however, on whether the governor has the power to issue another declaration.

* It turns out, declaring more than one disaster is common practice. From May 8, 2019

Governor JB Pritzker has issued a state disaster proclamation for 34 counties along the Mississippi and Illinois rivers. The declaration will ensure state support to communities that are battling floods caused by weeks of elevated river levels and recent heavy rains.

From May 31, 2019

Governor JB Pritzker has issued a second state disaster proclamation for 34 counties along the Mississippi and Illinois rivers.

What Rep. Bailey is essentially saying here is that the governor has to either give up and not issue subsequent proclamations during massive flooding, or involve the General Assembly, which, theoretically, could be under water at the time (and actually is under that theoretical “water” right now).

* OK, let’s take a look at Section 7 of the statute

In the event of a disaster, as defined in Section 4, the Governor may, by proclamation declare that a disaster exists. Upon such proclamation, the Governor shall have and may exercise for a period not to exceed 30 days the following emergency powers

Again, the act is completely silent on what happens after 30 days. There is no specific prohibition against declaring another disaster.

And there are more than just hints in the full statute that the General Assembly actually intended to remain silent on this particular 30-day renewal point.

For example, Section 6 of the statute requires the GA or a bicameral committee to approve any “reciprocal mutual aid agreements or compacts with other states.”

And this is from Section 9

It is the intent of the Legislature and declared to be the policy of the State that funds to meet disasters shall always be available.

That’s basically a continuing appropriation.

The section goes on to say that if the governor determines that state and other resources are insufficient, he has to request an appropriation from the General Assembly. However, if the House Speaker and Senate President certify that the legislature is not in session

the Governor is authorized to carry out those decisions, by depositing transfers or loan proceeds into and making expenditures from the Disaster Response and Recovery Fund, until such time as a quorum of the General Assembly can convene in a regular or extraordinary session.

So, the General Assembly envisioned a limited role for itself in those two sections, but allowed the governor to act without it on funding and, it appears, deliberately avoided mentioning any sort of legislative role in carrying out or approving a second disaster declaration in the same statute.

You never know what a local county judge will do, particularly in Rep. Bailey’s part of the world, but that looks to me like a slam dunk.

* Let’s now move on to another point. From a press release

Rep. Bailey said a story which first appeared publicly on the Edgar County Watchdogs website, which offered up an internal memo of the State’s Attorney Appellate Prosecutor’ Office, indicates there are serious doubts inside that judicial agency as to the legality of Pritzker’s Executive Orders.

This judicial agency provides training and support for local state’s attorneys on “constitutional, statutory and case law issues. The internal memo, written by David J. Robinson, who holds the position of Chief Deputy Director of the State’s Attorney Appellate Prosecutor’s Office, states:

    “My research leaves me less than confident that a reviewing court will hold that the Governor has the authority close businesses, bar attendance at church services and assemblies in excess of ten citizens (particularly if they are assembling to redress grievances)”.

* Let’s look at that the memo. The Director of the Appellate Prosecutor’s Office, Patrick Delfino, tasked a member of his senior staff with this research

(Y)ou asked that I prepare a memorandum outlining potential arguments that may confront Illinois State’s Attorneys as part of future civil and criminal litigation with regard to the Governor’s Executive Orders in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Robinson was essentially gaming out what arguments could be coming at local state’s attorneys if local governments use civil or criminal penalties to shut down a business or church or whatever. His footnote says that this memo is “designed solely to assist you in informing and advising Illinois State’s Attorneys.” This happens a lot. You always want to figure out what the other side will do to you.

However, the administration has never said that it would definitely prosecute people. The governor himself has repeatedly said he’s asked state and local police to use persuasion, and if that doesn’t work then they should ask for involvement by local and/or state public health officials.

* Let’s go back to the statute

Sec. 7. Emergency Powers of the Governor. […]

(6) To recommend the evacuation of all or part of the population from any stricken or threatened area within the State if the Governor deems this action necessary. […]

(8) To control ingress and egress to and from a disaster area, the movement of persons within the area, and the occupancy of premises therein.

Since the entire state is a disaster area, the statute gives him some pretty extraordinary powers.

* But are those powers constitutional? Not in some instances. From the Robinson memo

It also appears that the Governor is taking no position on the enforcement of his EO, except to say that it is up to local law enforcement, which is an indication that he is presuming it would be enforced in a constitutional way, if at all (”we are asking people to do the right thing”).

That is exactly right. Statutory law cannot exceed the Constitution and neither, obviously, can an EO.

* From the Robinson memo’s conclusion

Accordingly, given what the Governor has said publically, a reasonable view is that he has taken executive action to combat the COVID-19 pandemic by issuing EOs with the understanding that local officials will enforce those orders in compliance with the Illinois Constitution and the Constitution of the United States. [Emphasis in original.]

That’s basically the defense strategy. The EO is protected because the governor wants only constitutional enforcement, through civil or criminal means.

* So, if a cop walks into a church during a service with more than 10 people present and starts making mass arrests, that likely wouldn’t hold up in court. Instead, what the state has been trying to do is use the carrot of persuasion by explaining to pastors, business owners, etc. what could happen with mass gatherings, along with the threat of a local or state public health legal action to prosecute violations of the EO. From ILCS 2305/8.1

Whoever violates or refuses to obey any rule or regulation of the Department of Public Health shall be deemed guilty of a Class A misdemeanor.

But it doesn’t appear that the state will use that statute in at least certain targeted cases. The state hasn’t, for instance, broken up any protests against the stay at home order, even though they may have been in violation of the EO’s crowd limits. It also hasn’t arrested any pastors or church-goers.

* The statute is clear that the Department of Public Health can order a closure

The Department may, however, order a person or a group of persons to be quarantined or isolated or may order a place to be closed and made off limits to the public on an immediate basis without prior consent or court order if, in the reasonable judgment of the Department, immediate action is required to protect the public from a dangerously contagious or infectious disease.

But there is almost immediate due process written into statute for those hit by a closure order

In the event of an immediate order issued without prior consent or court order, the Department shall, as soon as practical, within 48 hours after issuing the order, obtain the consent of the person or owner or file a petition requesting a court order authorizing the isolation or quarantine or closure. When exigent circumstances exist that cause the court system to be unavailable or that make it impossible to obtain consent or file a petition within 48 hours after issuance of an immediate order, the Department must obtain consent or file a petition requesting a court order as soon as reasonably possible.

And then it goes on to explain what is required to prevail in those court cases.

And, as the Robinson memo points out, the governor is not encouraging or carrying out unconstitutional arrests or civil penalties. There may be a standing issue here for Rep. Bailey.

…Adding… Sorry that I didn’t post this earlier…


  15 Comments      


Our Democracy Could Be Decided By A Coin Toss

Monday, Apr 27, 2020 - Posted by Advertising Department

[The following is a paid advertisement.]

Democrats, who have a supermajority in both legislative chambers, were assumed to control the 2021 remap. However, a move by the Census Bureau could delay population data being sent to the states until July 31, 2021 putting that control in jeopardy.

If census officials win a delay, the Illinois Constitution outlines a process that calls for the appointment of an eight-member commission, split evenly between Democrats and Republicans, to draw maps. If they cannot agree, a ninth member – either Democrat or Republican – is randomly chosen, allowing either party the opportunity to gerrymander to their partisan advantage.

Our democracy is too important to be left to a game of chance.

We need an independent, nonpartisan redistricting commission to determine maps that are fair and equitable for all communities across Illinois.

Let’s end partisan gerrymandering and create a process that gives power back to the people.

To learn more about the effort for Fair Maps (SJRCA18, HJRCA41) visit, https://www.changeil.org/policy-priorities/redistricting-reform/.

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Illinois’ COVID-19 death toll is probably significantly higher than what’s being reported

Monday, Apr 27, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller

* From the Financial Times

The death toll from coronavirus may be almost 60 per cent higher than reported in official counts, according to an FT analysis of overall fatalities during the pandemic in 14 countries.

Mortality statistics show 122,000 deaths in excess of normal levels across these locations, considerably higher than the 77,000 official Covid-19 deaths reported for the same places and time periods.

If the same level of under-reporting observed in these countries was happening worldwide, the global Covid-19 death toll would rise from the current official total of 201,000 to as high as 318,000.

To calculate excess deaths, the FT has compared deaths from all causes in the weeks of a location’s outbreak in March and April 2020 to the average for the same period between 2015 and 2019. The total of 122,000 amounts to a 50 per cent rise in overall mortality relative to the historical average for the locations studied.

I asked the governor’s office if they could put something like this together on a county-by-county basis for Illinois. That could take awhile. I’ve looked around myself, but all I came up with so far is a recent and limited study of a handful of states, including Illinois. Any help y’all could give would be greatly appreciated.

* From that study

Many states experienced a notable increase in the proportion of total deaths due to P&I [pneumonia and influenza] starting in mid-March through March 28 compared to what would be expected based on the time of year and influenza activity. Expressed as the relative increase above the baseline, these increases were particularly notable in New Jersey, Washington, New York, Illinois, and Georgia. […]

Excess P&I mortality has been used as a method for tracking influenza mortality for more than a century. Here we used a similar strategy to capture COVID-19 deaths that had not been attributed specifically to the pandemic coronavirus. […]

To get a complete picture of the burden of the burden of deaths due to COVID-19, it will be necessary to evaluate spikes in all-cause mortality, as we have done for New York and New Jersey here. However, it is difficult to do such analyses reliably in real time with provisional death statistics because the data are incomplete for recent weeks, and the delays in reporting can only be determined retrospectively. Our analyses here suggest that excess P&I deaths represent a fraction of all of the deaths related to COVID-19 (25-50% based on preliminary data), so the P&I excess mortality estimates we present here represent a lower bound of the burden.

From February 9 through March 28, they found 185 unexpected “excess” pneumonia and influenza deaths in Illinois. During that same time period, Illinois reported 47 COVID-19 deaths.

Testing has expanded considerably since then, of course, but we still need some updated numbers to see where we are.

And remember, this possible undercount for Illinois could only be a quarter to a half of all excess deaths because the researchers didn’t look at other factors.

…Adding… More

In the early weeks of the coronavirus epidemic, the United States recorded an estimated 15,400 excess deaths, nearly two times as many as were publicly attributed to covid-19 at the time, according to an analysis of federal data conducted for The Washington Post by a research team led by the Yale School of Public Health.

The excess deaths - the number beyond what would normally be expected for that time of year - occurred during March and through April 4, a time when 8,128 coronavirus deaths were reported.

The excess deaths are not necessarily attributable directly to covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. They could include people who died because of the epidemic but not from the disease, such as those who were afraid to seek medical treatment for unrelated illnesses, as well as some number of deaths that are part of the ordinary variation in the death rate. The count is also affected by increases or decreases in other categories of deaths, such as suicides, homicides and motor vehicle accidents.

But in any pandemic, higher-than-normal mortality is a starting point for scientists seeking to understand the full impact of the disease.

  9 Comments      


*** UPDATED x1 - Pritzker admin responds *** Trump asks why Americans should be “bailing out” states like Illinois

Monday, Apr 27, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller

* This caused a bit of a stir on Saturday…


One example of many…


* The governor was asked about Haley’s remarks yesterday

Do you have any reaction to yesterday’s tweet from former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley about Illinois not deserving federal relief because of the state’s reckless spending, including on pensions?…

    I want to know if members of the Republican Party in Illinois agree with her that Illinois doesn’t deserve to get any federal help. That’s what I want to know.

* The ILGOP walked it back…


I agree with that position, by the way.

* And now…


I think all of the states are looking for federal help.

The governor’s office has promised a response.

Take a very deep breath (or two) before commenting, please. But now do you see why I asked y’all whether Harmon should retract that letter?

*** UPDATE *** Jordan Abudayyeh…

Every state in the country is facing unprecedented economic fallout due to COVID-19. While the president shirks his responsibility to manage a national crisis, governors have stepped up to protect their residents. Regardless of party, governors from around the country agree that Washington needs to act to support their efforts and address the unique challenges every state is facing. The state of Illinois sends more taxpayer dollars to Washington than it receives each every year, so we’d urge the President to avoid his instincts to make this a partisan issue and do what’s right for the country.

  85 Comments      


Fair maps group won’t demand a vote before the upcoming deadine

Monday, Apr 27, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Press release…

Illinois legislators and ethical government activists from communities across Illinois continue their outreach and support for Fair Maps and an improved redistricting process as the May 3rd deadline approaches. After May 3rd, the process becomes very uncertain, and urgent legislative action will be required to prevent another decade of partisan gerrymandered maps.

While many might have assumed Democrats will retain their partisan control of the map making process, that is no longer a safe assumption. Due to potential delays in the Census due to COVID-19, there is a 50 percent chance that Republicans actually will be in charge. “It could all come down to which name is drawn out of a hat,” says Ryan Tolley, policy director for CHANGE Illinois, the non-partisan coalition supporting the Fair Maps Amendment. “Lawmakers are running out of time to take action. Our democracy deserves a vote on a more equitable map process, and if one cannot safely be held before the May 3rd deadline, then legislators must commit to meaningful reforms in the coming months.”

There has been strong bipartisan support for the Fair Maps Amendment, which was introduced in the General Assembly on Feb. 13. The amendment is supported by 34 diverse organizations representing communities of color, businesses, farmers, senior citizens and more from across the state. A February poll commissioned by CHANGE Illinois showed 75 percent of the state’s voters support the creation of an independent commission to draw political maps.

Even during this pandemic, the supporters of this amendment are still committed to increasing election fairness. “This public health crisis underscores how important it is to elect leaders who are accountable to the people they serve,” said state Rep. Terra Costa Howard (D-Glen Ellyn), who is the Amendment’s chief sponsor in the House. “Now more than ever, we need to ensure that our districts are drawn fairly so that all constituents’ voices are heard.”

“Illinoisans deserve better than a repeat of the same political map making process that determined voters’ representation for decades, rather than allowing voters to choose their elected officials,” said state Rep. Ryan Spain of Peoria, the Republican chief co-sponsor of the Fair Maps Amendment. “We’re going to continue fighting for these reforms.”

I went over the Census deadline changes with subscribers a couple of weeks ago. There are several ways around that problem.

* The proposed constitutional amendment would need five session days to pass - three reading days in each chamber (the third serves as the first in the other chamber). That would mean the GA would have to come back to town by this Wednesday to get it done. Both chambers have already canceled session this week.

So, I asked Madeline Doubek at CHANGE Illinois if her group’s press release was a demand that the legislature reconvene this week. Her response…

No, it is not. We don’t presume to suggest we can demand anything, particularly in a pandemic. Safety must be considered, first and foremost. Fair maps and our democracy deserve votes, if and only if, some way could be found to do so safely. If that isn’t possible, we will work for legislative improvements to the redistricting process whenever the General Assembly can safely reconvene.

The chief Senate sponsor is Sen. Melinda Bush. I reached out to her earlier today and she told me that she and others are working on legislation now. She’s had some bills in draft form ready since February, Bush said. The legislation, among other things, would create an independent map commission by statute.

  23 Comments      


Report: 90 people will be allowed into Rep. Bailey’s court hearing today

Monday, Apr 27, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Background is here if you need it. I heard about this number over the weekend and couldn’t quite believe it, but the Clay County Circuit Court is apparently going to allow 90 people into today’s hearing on Rep. Darren Bailey’s lawsuit

The hearing is set for 1:30pm in Clay County Circuit Court in Louisville.

Media are being asked to gather about 1pm for health screening and guidelines, then are to be admitted about 1:15pm. Social distancing will be in place in the courtroom, so only about 90 people will be accommodated in the courtroom.

The presiding judge, Michael McHaney, was contacted over the weekend by representatives for the governor, requesting a continuance in the case, but the request was denied.

What could possibly go wrong?

* And Rep. Bailey is encouraging the public to attend…


A hearing will be held at the Clay County Courthouse in Louisville Illinois on Monday April 27 at 1:30 pm. Doors open…

Posted by Darren Bailey for State Senate 55th District on Saturday, April 25, 2020

  57 Comments      


Some have become heroes, others not so much

Monday, Apr 27, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller

* My weekly syndicated newspaper column

The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prevents government intrusion on journalists’ rights to tell their stories and your rights to read or watch or listen to them.

But that means things can get messy. Some reporters can make everyone else look bad.

“There are no bad questions,” is something I learned growing up. But after doing this job for a number of years, I’m here to tell you that, yes, there are bad questions.

I’ve been guilty of that over the years. Heck, I messed up my own remote question to the governor on April 24 because I got into a hurry and mistyped it. Oops.

Too often, though, Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s daily press conferences have become a theater of the absurd.

We’re in the midst of a global crisis that might eventually prove to be empire-changing. On top of the massive health scare, the nation is suffering through its sharpest employment and business collapse in its entire history. And on top of that, news media outlets — already reeling from years of corporate greed and systemic readership changes — are in very real danger of disappearing forever at a time when we desperately need them the most.

So, you’d think that present circumstances would bring out the best in reporters. It definitely has in a lot of them, but it hasn’t in others.

We’ve had the repetitive and even childish “Are we there yet?” sorts of questions for weeks on end, sometimes three, four or five a day during Pritzker pressers. All asked while hospitalizations continue to rise, the virus continues to spread throughout the state and deaths have taken an alarming upward turn. It’s like some news reporters can’t see the news in front of their faces. And, too often, it’s those very reporters who are the ones hogging the question period.

Some ask questions that can be answered with simple Google searches. For instance, a reporter recently asked the director of the Illinois Department of Public Health (who appears with the governor every day) how many COVID-19 patients were in the ICU. That information is posted on the IDPH website every day. The briefings aren’t supposed to be quiz shows.

And then there are those who advocate for their own personal hobbies or interests.

“Golf courses,” a Chicago TV reporter recently told the governor. “People are so anxious just to get out on the green, to be outside. Golf courses. Maybe you could do it in a socially distant kind of way?”

There are questions and then there is lobbying. That was lobbying.

The governor clearly said in response to a reporter’s recent question that he would definitely not be following the lead of Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp when it came to loosening his own stay at home order.

Gov. Kemp imposed a stay at home order and then decided to reverse some of it, and even President Donald Trump repeatedly criticized his flip-flop.

But some reporters acted shocked on April 23 when Pritzker extended his own order. And some of their questions went off the rails. It was perhaps the worst day of all.

A reporter for a suburban newspaper proclaimed: “Many people in rural parts of the state want to quarantine Chicago and the suburbs and reopen parts of Downstate Illinois that aren’t seeing infection rates like the urban areas. Why has the state not done that?”

Reporters should give voice to the voiceless, but the governor has repeatedly said the virus is everywhere and quarantining one area wouldn’t work and he was rightly stunned.

A talk show host for a small Chicago radio station delivered an extended soliloquy on bankruptcy and Puerto Rico. Another reporter claimed Pritzker had been accused by some Republican lawmakers of “operating in a bubble.” Pritzker denied it, and I spent some time looking for an instance of anyone saying that and couldn’t find anything. Maybe I missed it.

A reporter for a conservative news site asked how the governor could justify raises for state workers, even though most state employees have binding union contracts and the governor can’t just wave a magic wand to get rid of them. It went on like that for what seemed like forever.

Many, many reporters have asked thoughtful, well-researched and tough questions over the weeks. They are my heroes. But I have been getting an uneasy feeling lately that those questions are being drowned out by the stupid ones, and it’s undermining everyone’s credibility at a crucial moment in history. We just gotta do better. Myself included.

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« NEWER POSTS PREVIOUS POSTS »
* Isabel’s afternoon roundup
* IDFPR launches new online licensing system, but only for clinical psychologists, music therapists and nail technicians (Updated)
* I don't get it
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* Pritzker: 'More vetting should've been done' on new CPS Board President
* Oops
* News coverage roundup: Madigan corruption trial
* Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, I suppose
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