* Rodney Davis campaign…
Last week, Betsy Londrigan, Nancy Pelosi’s candidate for Congress in IL-13, held a press conference via Zoom. The first question Londrigan received was concerning her support for Medicare X, the Medicare public option plan, which achieves health care “cost savings” by cutting funding for hospitals, doctors and nurses by nearly $800 billion over a decade, according to a non-partisan review of the plan. Londrigan was asked to respond to the review, but dodged the question and stuck to her talking points instead.
“Londrigan refuses to talk about her support for Medicare X because she knows her plan would have dire consequences for health care workers and patients across central Illinois. The Londrigan-backed Medicare X plan would result in $800 billion in cuts for hospitals, doctors and nurses. Advocating for massive health care cuts in the middle of a global pandemic is dangerous; unfortunately, that’s Londrigan’s plan.” – Aaron DeGroot, Davis campaign spokesperson
Betsy Londrigan announced her support for Medicare X last fall. Since then, the American Hospital Association has spoken out against the dire consequences of the Londrigan-backed Medicare X plan, if it ever went into effect.
The Londrigan-backed Medicare X plan achieves health care “cost savings” by cutting funding for hospitals, doctors and nurses by nearly $800 billion over a decade, according to research conducted on behalf of the American Hospital Association (AHA).
* OK, about that $800 billion figure. From the American Hospital Association’s study…
The spending reductions occur among populations who previously had private coverage and are the result of lower prices under the public plan.
For those who previously had ESI and non-group coverage, spending would fall by 4 percent and 30 percent, respectively. The larger non-group spending impact is driven by both higher per- person spending and higher take-up rates among that population. Among those uninsured in the baseline, we estimate spending would increase by 10 percent, which is driven by higher service utilization rates for those gaining insurance coverage. This increase in spending for the originally uninsured partially offsets the reduction in spending among the other groups. […]
We still forecast high-levels of public plan enrollment that reflects some coverage gains among the uninsured but is mostly driven by crowd-out of commercial coverage. Over the period from 2025 to 2034, health care spending for the relevant population would decline by 8 percent, with hospital spending being more affected than other types of spending. […]
We also find that the revised bill would produce larger spending reductions than the original bill. This is partially the result of one-year change in full implementation (from 2024 to 2025) and medical price inflation. In addition, we find higher take-up in the public plan among both the uninsured and non-group enrollees. Higher uninsured take-up decreases spending impacts and higher non-group take-up increases spending impacts. We find the latter effect exceeds the former, resulting in slightly larger health care spending reductions.
* This congressional district has a huge number of major regional hospitals, likely the most in Illinois and perhaps one of the most in the country. Those hospitals are significant local employers and they also drive technological development. Not to mention that hospitals have been especially hard-hit during the COVID-19 pandemic. Then again, millions of Americans have lost their employer-based insurance coverage this year.
So, I asked the Londrigan campaign for a response.
* Here’s her campaign manager Jacob Plotnick…
When she is elected, Betsy Dirksen Londrigan will look to support a plan to expand access to affordable health care that protects coverage for people with pre-existing conditions and does not force people off of their private insurance or make cuts to hospitals.
Congressman Davis is trying to divert attention away from the fact that he is partnering with the Trump administration to overturn the Affordable Care Act through the courts which would have an immediate and terrible effect on millions of Americans with pre-existing conditions. After voting 11 times to repeal health care protections for people with pre-existing conditions, supporting a plan that would have charged older Illinoisans an age tax for their coverage, and repeatedly voting against bipartisan bills to lower the cost of prescription drugs, Davis is doubling down on his industry-friendly schemes that line the pockets of the insurance and pharmaceutical companies. He’s trying to muddy the water, but the facts are crystal clear. Congressman Davis wants to restrict access to health care and Betsy Dirksen Londrigan wants to expand it.
10 Comments
|
* Today…
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today announced 614 new confirmed cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including 6 additional confirmed deaths.
Champaign County: 1 female 70s, 1 male 80s
Cook County: 2 male 60s, 1 female 80s
DeKalb County: 1 female 90
Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 147,865 cases, including 7,026 deaths, in 102 counties in Illinois. The age of cases ranges from younger than one to older than 100 years. Within the past 24 hours, laboratories have reported 21,134 specimens for a total of 1,782,840. The preliminary seven-day statewide positivity for cases as a percent of total test from June 29 –July 5 is 2.6%.
Following guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, IDPH is now reporting both confirmed and probable cases and deaths on its website. Reporting probable cases will help show the potential burden of COVID-19 illness and efficacy of population-based non-pharmaceutical interventions. See CDC definition of a probable case on its website. IDPH will update these data once a week.
* Sunday…
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today announced 639 new confirmed cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including 6 additional confirmed deaths.
Champaign County: 1 male 90s
Cook County: 1 female 60s, 1 male 60s, 2 females 80s, 1 male 80s
Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 147,251 cases, including 7,020 deaths, in 102 counties in Illinois. The age of cases ranges from younger than one to older than 100 years. Within the past 24 hours, laboratories have reported 27,235 specimens for a total of 1,761,706. The preliminary seven-day statewide positivity for cases as a percent of total test from June 28 –July 4 is 2.6%.
* Saturday…
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today announced 862 new confirmed cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including 10 additional confirmed deaths.
Cass County: 1 male 90s
Cook County: 1 female 50s, 1 female 60s, 1 female 70s, 1 female 80s, 1 male 80s
DuPage County: 1 male 90s
Kane County: 1 male 60s
Lake County: 1 male 40s, 1 female 80s
Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 146,612 cases, including 7,014 deaths, in 102 counties in Illinois. The age of cases ranges from younger than one to older than 100 years. Within the past 24 hours, laboratories have reported 33,836 specimens for a total of 1,734,471. The preliminary seven-day statewide positivity for cases as a percent of total test from June 27 –July 3 is 2.6%.
* Friday…
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today announced 868 new confirmed cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including 18 additional confirmed deaths.
Cass County: 1 female 80s, 1 male 80s, 1 male 90s, 1 female 100+
Cook County: 1 female 40s, 1 female 50s, 1 male 60s, 2 females 70s, 1 male 80s, 2 females 90s, 1 male 90s
DuPage County: 1 male 70s
Grundy County: 1 female 80s
Kane County: 1 female 70s, 1 male 70s
Kendall County: 1 male 70s
Scott County is now reporting a case. Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 145,750 cases, including 7,005 deaths, in 102 counties in Illinois. The age of cases ranges from younger than one to older than 100 years. Within the past 24 hours, laboratories have reported 34,318 specimens for a total of 1,700,635. The preliminary seven-day statewide positivity for cases as a percent of total test from June 26 –July 2 is 2.6%.
18 Comments
|
This ain’t as easy as it sounds
Monday, Jul 6, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* May 20 press release…
State Representative Andrew Chesney joined more than 2 dozen fellow House Republican legislators in sending a letter on Friday, May 15 to Governor Pritzker urging he increase childcare capacity at daycares in Illinois.
Chesney and his Republican colleagues are concerned that provisions in Pritzker’s Restore Illinois plan will lead to massive shortages in daycare access and availability, especially as people return to work in neighboring states. The House GOP members are also asking the Governor to include them and professionals from the private daycare industry in a new childcare task force Pritzker announced was taking shape last week.
* June 11 Daily Herald story…
As Illinois closes in on 130,000 cases of COVID-19, child care providers are urging the state to loosen staffing and capacity restrictions that have prevented them from reopening or expanding services to nonessential workers. […]
However, some providers complain the state placed stricter capacity and staffing guidelines on the industry just as they and other businesses were set to reopen in Phase 3 late last month, forcing many to remain closed. And the grant program may not provide funding quick enough to keep them in business.
“I find it very interesting that we remained open for essential workers for 12 weeks and then the next thing we know as we’re ready to add more children we receive notification that we’ve got even stricter rules than before,” said Casindra Mladenoff, owner of Elmhurst Premier Childcare Center. “They want us to reduce class size and add more staff, which is a little counter productive.”
* CNN today…
At least 1,335 people have tested positive from child care facilities in Texas, the state’s Department of Health and Human Services reported Monday, citing figures from Friday.
Of those infected, 894 were staff members and 441 were children. The cases came from 883 child care facilities that are open in the state, DHHS said.
The new cases mark a significant increase from June 15, when there were 210 reported cases from 177 facilities — including 141 staff members and 69 children. […]
As of Monday, 12,220 child care facilities are open throughout the state.
12 Comments
|
* Media advisory…
Statewide Coalition of Leading Small Business Organizations Join Together and Urge a No Vote on the Illinois Progressive Tax Amendment
WHAT:
Statewide press conference in 4 media markets, simultaneously connected via Zoom, with major statewide organizations that have united together to form the Vote No on the Progressive Tax Coalition and announce the official launch of the Vote No grassroots campaign.
WHEN:
Tuesday, July 7th, 10 AM
WHO:
Illinois Chamber of Commerce President & CEO Todd Maisch
Illinois Farm Bureau President Richard Guebert, Jr.
NFIB-Illinois Leadership Council Chair Cindy Neal
Technology & Manufacturing Association President Steve Rauschenberger
WHERE:
Chicago
Illinois Chamber of Commerce
70 West Madison, Suite 200, Chicago, IL 60602
Speaker: Todd Maisch, Illinois Chamber of Commerce
Location Press Contact: [Redacted]
Springfield
Reichert Farms
16751 Hunley Road, Auburn, IL 62615
Speaker: Richard Guebert, Jr, Illinois Farm Bureau
Location Press Contact: [Redacted]
Peoria
LeFleur Floral Design & Boutique
905 Peoria St, Washington, IL 61571
Speaker: Cindy Neal, National Federation of Independent Business-Illinois
Location Press Contact: [Redacted]
Rockford
Circle Boring & Machine Co.
3161 Forest View Rd, Rockford, IL 61109
Speaker: Steve Rauschenberger, Technology & Manufacturing Association
Location Press Contact: [Redacted]
Zoom
Register Online at: [Redacted]
WHY:
Illinoisans are overtaxed. Families, workers, seniors, and small business owners struggle under the weight of the highest overall tax burden in the entire country. Now politicians in Springfield want to raise our taxes yet again with a progressive tax that will do nothing to address sky-high property taxes, will cost Illinois even more jobs and hurt workers, and will end up raising taxes on the middle class and the working poor. Illinoisans can’t afford another tax hike, especially as working families and small businesses struggle to recover from COVID-19.
47 Comments
|
Question of the day
Monday, Jul 6, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Ethan Colbert at the Herald-Whig…
There is almost an infodemic of misinformation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic on social media and circulating in public, local physicians and public health experts say.
The myths cause health officials to worry that as Illinois reopens, the public will disregard the experts’ advice and instead believe what they read on social media sites, including information that is not vetted by medical professionals or reported from credible sources.
“I think it is very hard for lay people to know what to believe, especially since there is still a lot we don’t know about the virus, so when they see someone speaking with some degree of confidence they want to believe that person,” said Dr. Mary Frances Barthel, Blessing Health System’s chief quality and safety officer, who also is one of the health care system’s COVID-19 response team members.
“Everyone needs to know that most of what is out there can always be clarified and explained with science.”
The article goes on to list several myths, including one about how face coverings “decrease the body’s oxygen levels or lead to carbon dioxide intoxication,” another about how “COVID-19 is not a serious threat to public health due to most people recovering from the virus,” another about how the virus “is comparable to influenza,” a bogus test “if someone can hold their breath for 10 seconds or longer without coughing or feeling discomfort, they do not have the virus,” and the whopper about how “staying indoors in isolation lowers your immune system and that wearing a mask lowers your immune system.”
* The Question: What COVID-19 myths have you been seeing and how did you deal with them, if at all?
50 Comments
|
Duckworth obscures her message
Monday, Jul 6, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* US Sen. Tammy Duckworth on CNN’s “State of the Union” yesterday…
DANA BASH: “Senator, I know that you support change in the name of military bases named after Confederate leaders, but there are leaders like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson who were slave owners. And some people are demanding their monuments come down, too. In your view, where does it end? Should statues, for example, of George Washington come down?”
DUCKWORTH: “Well, let me just say we should start off by having a national dialogue on it at some point. But right now we’re in the middle of a global pandemic. And one of our countries that are opposed to us, Russia, has put a bounty on American troops’ heads. What really struck me about this speech that the president gave at Mount Rushmore was that he spent more time worried about honoring dead Confederates than he did talking about the lives of our 130,000 Americans who lost their lives to COVID-19, or by warning Russia off of the bounties they’re putting on Americans’ heads. His priorities are all wrong here. He should be talking about what we’re going to do to overcome this pandemic. What are we going to do to push Russia back? Instead, he had no time for that. He spent all his time talking about dead traitors.”
BASH: “That may be true, but George Washington, I don’t think anybody would call him a traitor and there are moves by some to remove statues of him. Is that a good idea?”
DUCKWORTH: “I think we should listen to everybody. I think we should listen to the argument there, but remember that the president at Mount Rushmore was standing on ground that was stolen from Native Americans who had actually been given that land during a treaty.”
1) Duckworth has often pridefully boasted that some of her ancestors fought under George Washington during the Revolutionary War. She also has an MA from George Washington University.
2) Never tweet…
3) The Senator’s response…
4) The far right went way overboard with its response…
5) Duckworth made the classic mistake of wanting to get her talking points out without first adequately dealing with the question she was asked. As a result of essentially dismissing the question with vague rhetoric, her talking points were overshadowed. Oops. She wants to run on the same ticket as a guy with gaffe issues. So, he’ll likely need someone who doesn’t regularly make gaffes. This was minor in the grand scheme of things, but still important to those who are watching super-closely. Don’t fall for the gotchas and don’t be afraid of Twitter leftists…
* Related…
* Susan Rice sees stock rise in Biden VP race
[Headline changed because, well, she can’t physically step on her message. Sorry about that. Wasn’t thinking.]
60 Comments
|
The ramp’s consequences
Monday, Jul 6, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* This is just the sort of thing that happens when you make the bare minimum payments on your credit card. You pay money in, but your debt still goes up. The object of the pension ramp is to eventually get the state to the point where it’s actually paying down the debt. We’re obviously not there yet. Here’s Hannah Meisel at the Daily Line…
Despite paying historic amounts into Illinois’ five pension systems, the state has made virtually no progress on its path to adequately funding the retirement plans. In fact, three of the five funds experienced net losses in 2019, according to a new report from the state’s Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability (COGFA).
The total unfunded liabilities for Illinois’ five pension systems ballooned to $137.2 billion during the 2019 fiscal year, according to COGFA — up from $133.5 billion the previous year. But the aggregate level of funding has barely budged at about 40.3 percent.
That’s a far cry from the benchmark set up under former Gov. Jim Edgar in 1994 that required the state pension system to be 90 percent funded by 2045.
When that 50-year plan was passed, the pension system’s funded ratio was significantly better, sitting at 52 percent. The highest the ratio has ever been for all five systems was at nearly 75 percent in the year 2000. But in the subsequent recession the pension systems took a turn for the worse.
The COGFA report is here.
* Greg Hinz points out the obvious problem we’ve had…
The report attributes most of the lack of progress to the state’s failure to annually contribute the amount actuaries say is needed to bring the systems to a 90 percent funded ratio by 2045. The state and its taxpayers are contributing more than ever to the funds, more than $9 billion, but because that’s less than what’s required, any gains on investments are immediately applied to filling the hole rather than raising the funded ratio.
Specifically, according to the report, the pension systems that cover grade and high school teachers outside of Chicago, university professors and judges “experienced a net actuarial loss, mostly due to actuarially insufficient employer contributions and less-than-expected investment returns as well as unfavorable demographics/other factors.“
…Adding… Email from a pal…
The Edgar ramp was a 10-year artificial teaser mortgage to get us into a payment system. AND for all of its problems, it was far better than what existed before.
Yep.
28 Comments
|
* Subscribers were told about this last week. Here’s Hannah Meisel at the Daily Line…
State Rep. Art Turner (D-Chicago) submitted his resignation from the Illinois House on Friday, cutting his last term in the General Assembly six months short. Turner, who is expected to become a lobbyist, announced he would not run for a sixth full term last year and backed his brother, Aaron Turner, for the seven-way race for the 9th District seat. SEIU Healthcare organizer Lakesia Collins ultimately won the primary in March. Turner has served in the House for nearly a decade, including rising to deputy majority leader, after being appointed to replace his father, Art Turner Sr., in 2010 after he served for 30 years. In a statement, Turner noted he’s resigning at a time of renewed awareness of the challenges faced by the Black community. … Chicago Ald. Michael Scott Jr. (24) is the committeeman with the most weighted votes to choose Turner’s replacement, which must be done in the next 30 days.
* Turner’s press release…
“It has been the honor of my life to serve as state representative for the people of the 9th District, ensuring that the voices of Chicago’s West Side communities were heard loud and clear in Springfield,” Turner said. “While this is a bittersweet moment for me, I am proud of the work of I’ve done building a stronger Illinois through criminal justice reform and creating economic opportunity for communities that are too often left behind.”
Turner has served in the Illinois House since December 2010 and rose to the rank of Deputy Majority Leader in the House Democratic Caucus. Turner’s legislative work focused on improving opportunities for communities that have historically faced disinvestment, disproportionate contact with the criminal justice system and a lack of economic opportunity.
During his tenure as a legislator, Turner was a leader in criminal justice reform efforts, fighting to improve conditions for incarcerated individuals and working to reduce recidivism for formerly incarcerated individuals by making it easier for them to find employment.
Turner also fought for educational equity to help level the playing field for Illinois students and families and stronger personal privacy measures to protect consumers. New education funding formulas help ensure that students and schools most in need receive their fair share of education funding in order to reduce academic achievement gaps while Turner’s push for greater consumer protection would ensure that Illinoisans are able to know what personal information online companies and services collect.
“Every day I have had the opportunity to serve the community I’ve always called home, my focus has been on showing the leaders of our state the realities that people in historically underserved communities face on a daily basis, and building consensus for change,” Turner said. “Now at the conclusion of my time in the House, we see that not only people across our state, but throughout our country are awakening to those realities and committing to work together for change. Like everyone in our community, I look forward to seeing this resolve continue to shape our city, our state and our country for the better.”
* And Amdor updates…
Thoughts?
9 Comments
|
* The Southern…
Southern Illinois University has laid out a plan that calls for bringing thousands of students back to campus and offering them a mix of traditional face-to-face classes, online and hybrid courses — while implementing numerous precautions.
Chancellor Austin Lane, whose first official day on the job was Wednesday, said the plan emphasizes safety, and also strives to offer returning students some semblance of the campus life they desire. It is the result of hundreds of hours of planning, research and surveys ongoing since March.
“We actually polled our students, faculty and staff, and the majority is saying they want to come back,” Lane said. “Now, they are saying they want to come back and ensure that safety measures are in place.” […]
“I think that’s what we’re doing right now, we’re rolling the dice — making that gamble without having really analyzed the bet,” said Dave Johnson, president of the SIU Faculty Association that represents tenured and tenure-track faculty. Johnson said SIU’s survey missed a key perspective. While a majority of faculty may want to resume face-to-face instruction, the vast majority also believe the decision on what format to hold classes during the pandemic should be theirs alone — rather than directed by administrators.
* Inside Higher Ed takes a look at Cornell University’s reopening calculations…
But for Cornell, one additional piece of information was “very important” in making that decision, according to Martha Pollack, the university’s president. That was the finding from Cornell researchers that holding the semester online potentially could result in more infections and more hospitalizations among students and staff members than holding the semester in person would.
A study by Cornell researchers concluded that with nominal parameters, an in-person semester would result in 3.6 percent of the campus population (1,254 people) becoming infected, and 0.047 percent (16 people) requiring hospitalization. An online semester, they concluded, would result in about 7,200 infections and more than 60 hospitalizations.
The conclusion rested on a few different assumptions. First, the study assumed about 9,000 Cornell students would return to Ithaca — even if there is no in-person learning or physical campus life.
Researchers concluded that during an in-person semester, asymptomatic testing is crucial for containing an outbreak and keeping the total number of infections low. When students live and take classes on campus, the university can enforce such a testing program with a variety of methods. For example, students who don’t get tested can lose access to residence halls or be locked out of their email accounts, said Peter Frazier, a data scientist and professor in Cornell’s School of Operations Research and Information Engineering, who led the study.
But when instruction is online, the university loses much of that ability to encourage and enforce testing.
Discuss.
* Related…
* Tom Kacich: A silly, ideological skirmish while a global war rages: Yet [Rep. Brad Halbrook] said if he had school-age children, he “probably” would send them to school without face masks.
17 Comments
|
* Last week…
People coming to Chicago from 15 states experiencing a surge in coronavirus cases must self-quarantine for 14 days upon entering the city beginning next week, Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced late Thursday afternoon.
The city ordered the quarantine for anyone who has spent more than 24 hours in the following states before arriving in Chicago: Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Nevada, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Utah.
The order, which will go into effect on Monday, does not apply to people who are at the airport for a connecting flight or driving through the city on their way elsewhere, city officials said. […]
Anyone violating the order could face fines of $100 to $500 per day, up to a maximum $7,000, the city said.
The order takes effect today.
* The city explained how the states were designated on its website…
A state will be designated if it has a case rate greater than 15 new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 resident population, per day, over a 7-day rolling average.
That metric is an odd choice for a couple of reasons. First, the Illinois Department of Public Health flags counties with a warning sign when they surpass 50 cases per 100,000 residents over seven days, more than three times the threshold Chicago is using.
Second, at last check, Chicago itself was at 52 cases per 100,000 residents over the past seven days.
Not to mention that a large number of Illinois counties also wouldn’t qualify. Go see for yourself.
*** UPDATE *** Looks like there’s a difference in methodology here. From the Chicago Department of Public Health…
Chicago’s Emergency Travel Order applies to states that have a case rate greater than 15 new COVID-19 cases PER DAY per 100,000 population. We use the average per day over a 7-day period, consistent with practices around the country. In Chicago, we’re currently adding <200 cases per day. With 2.7m people, we would hit this cutoff at more than 400 cases per day, which is more than twice the rate of new cases we are at now. (15 cases per day x 2.7m population/100,000=405 cases per day.) Using cutoffs like this is very consistent with how other states have approached this.
Sorry about that.
15 Comments
|
Pritzker wins one, loses one
Monday, Jul 6, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Background is here if you need it. From CNN…
Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh denied a request from Illinois Republicans to block Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s rule that bars political rallies of more than 50 people amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The Republicans had filed an emergency petition asking the court to rule before 6 p.m., ET on Saturday.
The Republicans argued the governor’s rule violated the Constitution because it treated political rallies differently than church services or Black Lives Matter demonstrations.
* Sun-Times…
The rush for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction in this case was pegged — so went the argument — to the urgent need to clear the legal way for a July 4 picnic and fireworks to rally the Will County GOP faithful — at a farm, a place with plenty of room for people to spread out. […]
On July 3, the judges - Diane Wood, tapped for the bench by Democratic ex-President Bill Clinton; Joel Flaum, an appointee of former Republican President Gerald Ford; and Amy Barrett, tapped by Trump (and who is on Trump’s list of potential Supreme Court justices) - signed an order denying the emergency challenge.
“If 100 Democrats or 100 Republicans gather and ten get infected, those ten may go home and infect a local shopkeeper, a local grocery-store worker, their postal carrier, or their grandmother—someone who had no interest in the earlier gathering. Thus, the balance of harms in this instance strongly favors the governor,” the three judges concluded. […]
On July 4 the Liberty lawyers, Daniel Suhr and Jeffrey Schwab, filed an emergency application for an injunction with Kavanaugh.
They told Kavanaugh in their brief, the question is, “Does the Governor of Illinois, who permits gatherings of 50 or more for religious speech or certain protestors’ speech (a Black Lives Matters reference) violate the First Amendment by prohibiting such gatherings for political parties’ speech?”
* Meanwhile, on to Capitol News Illinois…
All of Gov. JB Pritzker’s executive orders since April 8 pertaining to the novel coronavirus pandemic are void because he exceeded his authority when he used his emergency powers for more than 30 days, a Clay County judge ruled Thursday.
The Illinois Department of Public Health instead has “supreme authority” to close businesses and restrict residents’ activities in a public health crisis, Circuit Court Judge Michael McHaney added.
His decision, which he expanded to apply to all Illinoisans, is the latest ruling in Xenia Republican Rep. Darren Bailey’s lawsuit. He argued in his April 23 filing that the governor could not issue successive disaster proclamations to manage COVID-19.
The attorney general’s office is likely to ask a higher court to reconsider the order. Thomas DeVore, Bailey’s attorney, said business occupancy limitations and other restrictions can no longer be enforced.
An official in the governor’s office, though, said the judge’s ruling is one “contradicted by multiple other” judges. She added “it is not a final judgement and has no injunction.” Phase 4 of the reopening plan is in effect, she said.
* Michael Ciesla…
The Governor’s spokeswoman, Emily Bittner, says the Order is not final and did not include an injunction barring the State from enforcing the Governor’s phase four rules. No injunction is necessary to effectuate the ruling in the Order. The case was brought as a chancery case. Plaintiffs in chancery cases seek remedies that are non-monetary such as injunctions or, in this case, a declaration of the legality of executive orders. The Court declared that all of the Governor’s executive orders regarding COVID-19 are void as of April 8, 2020. Such declaration is the final say of the Circuit Court of Illinois. No injunction is needed as the Order simply erased the COVID-19 executive orders. If a citizen or a business acts in defiance of the now void executive orders and law enforcement or a government agency seeks to punish such action, then it would be proper for the person or business would seek an injunction to bar enforcement of the executive orders.
21 Comments
|
* My Crain’s Chicago Business column…
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul has had a stressful few years.
He battled and then beat prostate cancer (which killed his father and his maternal grandfather) and then went on to win a contentious and sometimes bitter 2018 primary and general election for attorney general. He got married, and then his mom died in 2019.
Raoul was barely a year in office when the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the world. And then in mid-June, he tested positive for the virus.
I talked to Raoul on June 30, his first day back in his Chicago office. He sounded tired, but he was still mentally sharp.
He said he wasn’t as worried when he tested positive for the coronavirus as he was when he was diagnosed with cancer because the same cancer had already taken two family members. Still, he said, he did worry about passing the virus along to his family.
Raoul said tiredness was, and remains, his main symptom. When he was still quarantined in his bedroom for two weeks, in order to avoid infecting his family, even the simple act of reading a legal brief wore him out so much that he’d have to take a nap for a couple of hours. He’s moved past that now, but he’s not yet his old self.
The attorney general continued his work on police reforms throughout his home stay. George Floyd’s murder convinced him to revive his proposal from when he was in the state Senate to license police officers.
The idea came from
Click here to read the rest before commenting, please. Thanks.
25 Comments
|
* My weekly syndicated newspaper column…
Months after the nation’s economy crashed and millions were (and continue to be) put out of work, a large group of Illinois House Democrats is still quite upset at the way Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s administration is handling unemployment insurance claims.
But the Pritzker administration is refusing to bend on their most important demands, saying the governor will not move selected constituents to the “front of the line” ahead of others, which created a backlash within his own party.
Late last month, 53 of 74 House Democrats, including several members of leadership, sent a letter to the acting director of the Illinois Department of Employment Security, Thomas Chan. The letter began with an acknowledgement of the hard work put in by Chan’s agency and the Pritzker administration to address the “unprecedented crisis” of vast and sudden unemployment.
But the legislators then complained that many of their constituents “continue to be unable to complete the filing of their claims, process their applications and often, even make contact with someone from the Department despite days and weeks of trying.” And, “despite their best efforts, our staff are unable to help as there is no mechanism to allow them to coordinate with IDES claims services.”
The House Democrats said each of their offices are dealing with, on average, “60-90 open cases at any given time, some dating as far back as mid-March.” They asked that those constituents “receive a call back from IDES within 7-10 days,” requested that IDES directly coordinate efforts with their district office staff and that “IDES increase staff resources dedicated to working with district office staff to handle outstanding cases.”
Gov. Pritzker’s press secretary Jordan Abudayyeh said in response that the administration is committed to working with the General Assembly, but she also claimed “multiple” staff members from IDES and the governor’s office are already “working as liaisons between the General Assembly and the agency to answer their questions,” adding: “We have implemented every solution at our disposal to provide immediate relief and are more than willing to implement any ideas from the General Assembly.”
But then came Abudayyeh’s rejection: “What we will not do is take the 60 to 90 claims General Assembly members call on behalf of each week, and move those claimants to the front of the line ahead of the tens of thousands of claims the department is working to address. The agency cannot pull staff away from processing claims in the system to prioritize claims from legislators.”
Abudayyeh has a valid point. If folks were given preferential treatment in each legislative district each week, everyone else who’s having trouble with the system would undoubtedly be pretty darned upset when a news outlet claimed “political favoritism.”
Many legislators live and die by constituent services, love their districts and are scared to death of what could happen to them if they fail their voters. Most legislators believe that their priorities, as members of a co-equal branch, should be addressed by the governor’s office. And all legislators hate taking blame. That’s politics.
And this is not a new frustration. Members of both parties have been privately grumbling for months about their inability to get help from IDES and the administration. And several were furious about the administration’s response.
“What we want is to be able to tell these people that they are actually going to get a call, and many haven’t, so we can’t,” said Rep. Marty Moylan (D-Des Plaines). “They’re not calling us because they want preferential treatment, they’re calling us because they are broke, scared, and time is running out for them.”
“The fact that the governor’s office is accusing us of playing politics is just awful,” Rep. Moylan continued. “Now is not the time to shift blame and lob accusations at one another.” He has a point, but legislators also tried to shift blame.
“We’re not looking for favorable treatment, we want to work with the Governor’s office on practical solutions to this challenge,” said Rep. Jonathan Carroll (D-Northbrook).
“I’d like to invite the author of that statement… to sit in one of our offices for a day and hear what it’s like to take 100’s of calls from people who are about to lose their house,” texted another Democrat, who asked not to be named.
“I understand why they’re frustrated,” said another. “But they don’t seem to understand why we are.”
I know of no state that isn’t still having serious problems processing a flood of unemployment insurance applications. But the governor needs to find a way to calm this storm.
18 Comments
|
Open thread
Monday, Jul 6, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* It’s good to be back. I was a little bored at times during the holiday weekend. Maybe I need a new hobby…
17 Comments
|
Comments Off
|
Comments Off
|
|
Support CapitolFax.com Visit our advertisers...
...............
...............
...............
...............
...............
|
|
Hosted by MCS
SUBSCRIBE to Capitol Fax
Advertise Here
Mobile Version
Contact Rich Miller
|