* Tomorrow is a state holiday, so I’m shutting the blog down for a day. Until then, here’s an 1860 campaign song written for the person we’re honoring tomorrow…
Our David’s good sling is unerring,
The Slaveocrats’ giant he slew;
Then shout for the Freedom-preferring—
For Lincoln and Liberty too!
Argosy Casino in Alton has announced it will be opening its new sportsbook in March and is planning to open in time for the NCAA ‘March Madness’ basketball tournament later that month.
The sportsbook is set to feature more than 25 big screen TV’s with betting windows and self-service kiosks.
Argosy will host a job fair on Wednesday, February 12 from 3-6 p.m. at the casino to hire additional staff for the new addition.
“We are excited to be the first to introduce sports betting to the region,” Steve Peate, Argosy Casino Alton Vice President and General Manager said. “Our all new Sportsbook integrated with our Hops House Restaurant & Bar will provide a unique experience for our guests to dine, bet and enjoy all the action.”
Rivers Casino is also gearing up.
* The Question: Do you bet on sports, and, if so, why? If not, why not?
Illinoisans give public schools a poor grade, according to the Illinois Education Association’s second annual State of Education report released Tuesday.
A poll of 1,000 Illinoisans gave public schools a grade “C-,” though more than half of respondents would give their local public schools an “A” or “B” grade.
That’s almost always the case. Schools or whatever are much better where you live than other places.
More than half of those polled indicated that teachers are paid too little despite changes made to make the teaching profession more attractive, including enacting the $40,000 minimum salary law. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker signed legislation in August upping the pay for teachers, reaching the $40,000 mark by the 2023-24 school year.
Many respondents would not advise family members to become teachers. Illinois’ education job bank Tuesday showed some 2,563 openings.
Despite the propaganda, people generally like and respect teachers.
* Press release excerpt…
Seventy-one percent of Illinois residents believe funding for our schools should increase. More than 80 percent of the public believes our education support staff, like paraprofessionals and classroom aides, are paid too little. […]
The poll, conducted by Normington-Petts and We Ask America, surveyed 1,000 Illinoisans between Nov. 13 and 21. It has a margin of error of +/- 3.1 percent with 95 percent confidence.
“This poll is the only bi-partisan look at the state of public schools in Illinois. We sampled people from all across the state and from many different communities. It’s clear that what unites Illinoisans is the importance of having quality public schools for all Illinois children,” Normington-Petts’ Jill Normington said.
“We worked collaboratively to make sure this poll was done without bias, so we could truly get an honest look at the state of education in Illinois,” We Ask America’s Andrew Weissert said.
Please keep that Weissert quote in mind as you read this post. I would’ve written this post a lot differently if it had not been for the way the poll was constructed.
* Respondents were then asked to rate how important each one of these priorities was to them on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the most important. Here are the percentages of those who rated them a 10, followed by the percentages of those who rated them an 8, 9 or 10…
Having high quality public schools 59% … 81%
Cleaning up corruption in state government 69% … 85%
Lowering taxes 52% … 68%
Reforming the state pension systems 35% … 53%
Balancing the state budget 51% … 77%
Reducing crime 58% … 77%
The corruption message is really hitting home big-time, and I gotta bet it’s even higher now because the poll was taken last November. A whole lot of stuff has happened since then. Also, any issue polling in the 80s can really move numbers in a campaign, so legislators need to beware. Pension reform? Not so much. It finished last in the priorities list.
As you may know, teachers in Illinois do not pay into and therefore do not collect Social Security when they retire. Do you think that Illinois teachers should receive their full pension, see their pensions cut some or see their pensions eliminated?
FULL PENSION 75%
CUT SOME 11%
ELIMINATED 6%
(DON’T KNOW) 9%
Right now, teachers hired after the year 2011 in Illinois must work in a classroom until age 67 in order to be eligible to receive their pensions, no matter how many years they have been teaching. Do you strongly oppose, somewhat oppose, somewhat support or strongly support recently hired teachers being able to receive their pensions at age 60 instead of waiting until 67?
STRONGLY OPPOSE 19%
SOMEWHAT OPPOSE 14%
SOMEWHAT SUPPORT 24%
STRONGLY SUPPORT 38%
(DON’T KNOW) 6%
Even with more tax revenue in hand, Illinois’ financial position deteriorated in the last fiscal year due to spending growth and a rising pension tab [according to an “interim comprehensive annual financial report” published by Comptroller Mendoza]. […]
The state’s net position based on governmental activities which takes into account long-term liabilities and assets worsened to a negative net position of $193.1 billion for fiscal 2019 ending last June 30, from a negative $189.1 billion for fiscal 2018.
Over time, increases and decreases in net position measure whether the state’s financial position is improving or deteriorating and the figure provides a more sweeping view of state assets and obligations because it counts liabilities such as bonded debt and pension obligations against assets such as cash, investments, and other state holdings.
At $4 billion, the erosion was less than the $6 billion recorded in the previous year. […]
“The bleeding has slowed but we are still bleeding,” said Richard Ciccarone, the Illinois-based president of Merritt Research Services, which tracks audit timing.
Thomas was up for a retention election this year, but now his replacement, Michael J. Burke will serve a term that expires in 2022, when an election for a full ten-year term will be held. Thomas nominated Burke to be his replacement, and the court approved the choice, said Chris Bonjean, a spokesman for the Illinois Supreme Court.
For local Republicans, the timing of Thomas’ retirement is not ideal. Marty Keller, chairman of the DuPage County Republican Central Committee, said he does not think a Republican is guaranteed to retain the seat in a future election, especially given the timing of Thomas’ retirement.
“I kind of wish it was immediate,” Keller said. “I think a Republican would have a better chance in a presidential year, but I recognize it won’t be until 2022.”
Keller said Republicans need more representation on the Supreme Court, and added he hopes newly drawn districts will make for a fair, and more friendly Republican race in the Second District.
* I’ve seen this same political analysis elsewhere, but it’s demonstrably wrong-headed.
Hillary Clinton won the 2nd Supreme Court District 702,489 to President Trump’s 587,088, mainly due to her strong performance in DuPage and Lake counties. You’d think Keller would know that, since he chairs the DuPage County GOP.
Yes, Gov. Pritzker also won the 2nd District two years ago, but that was by a much more narrow 513,387 to 512,891 margin.
* It’s pretty safe to say that having that “R” attached to his name was not going to do Justice Thomas any favors this November as he sought the 60 percent needed to be retained - particularly if some groups (trial lawyers, labor, Madigan, etc.) spent big bucks against him.
But, if President Trump loses reelection, the Republicans will then have a Supreme Court candidate running in a 2022 Democratic presidential midterm, which, if history is any guide, may give them a strong favorable wind at their backs. If Trump wins, the midterm is still probably a better bet, considering Pritzker’s 2018 numbers.
Thomas’ decision to retire when he did may or may not have been political to him, but it was still a very smart political move for his party, regardless of what a party boss thinks. He helped his party kick the can to a potentially safer political year.
* Also, they don’t redistrict Supreme Court seats. Per the constitution, district boundaries are based on contiguous county lines and there is no constitutional requirement for decennial redistricting.
Representing a significant voting bloc, 33 Democratic state lawmakers – 20 in the Illinois House of Representatives and 13 in the Senate – introduced a bill today in a renewed effort to strike a compromise with Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and advocates working to address the budget deficit while also creating major dedicated funding to address homelessness in Chicago.
The legislation, SB 3243 (with a companion House Bill to be filed later today), preserves all of the money that Lightfoot is seeking to trim the city’s budget deficit while generating a projected $79 million to curb homelessness, which now afflicts more than 86,000 Chicagoans. The legislation would modify Lightfoot’s quest to increase the Chicago’s Real Estate Transfer Tax (RETT), adjusting proposed rates assessed on the properties sold for more than $3 million, while extending a tax cut to 96 percent of average annual property sales in the city.
The bill largely parallels a concept championed by a group of Illinois Senators during last fall’s veto session, when Lightfoot’s bid for General Assembly approval of the tax increase faltered due, in part, to the qualms of legislators who want the measure to fund affordable and supportive housing for people experiencing homelessness in concert with reducing the budget gap.
Lightfoot, herself, embraced a proposed RETT increase to unleash new funding to combat homelessness while campaigning for mayor. This is one reason state legislators believe a compromise could be possible with her administration.
“We can’t emphasize enough that this legislation will produce a win-win outcome that would significantly reduce homelessness in our city and help address the city’s budget deficit,” said State Senator Ram Villivalam (D-8th). “Along with several of my colleagues and the Bring Chicago Home coalition, I look forward to collaborating with both the Mayor and the Governor to get this done.”
The legislation is estimated to yield $88 million that would be pledged to deficit reduction and $79 million dedicated to shrinking homelessness. To amass those revenues, the bill would honor the core integrity of Lightfoot’s proposal to charge a transfer tax on a graduated scale, adjusting the rates applying to only two tiers of high-end property sales. For sales over $3 million, it would increase the rate from 2 percent to 2.8 percent, applying only to the portion of the transaction between $3 million and $10 million. For sales over $10 million, it would increase the rate from 2.55 percent to four percent, applying only to the portion of the transaction exceeding $10 million.
For all other sales tiers, the rates would remain identical to Lightfoot’s proposal, ensuring a tax cut for properties purchased for less than $1 million – equivalent to 96 percent of the city’s average annual real estate transactions.
Conversations between legislators, advocates, and the mayor’s office are ongoing, but no agreement has been reached. State legislators hope the introduction of the bill will be an impetus to bring the two sides closer together.
“If passed, this bill will create resources for affordable housing that will help shrink the shortage of 120,000 affordable units in the City of Chicago and have a significant impact on reducing homelessness,” said State Representative Delia Ramirez (D-4th), the lead sponsor of the bill in the House. “At the same time, it will give a tax cut to 96 percent of property transactions in the city and preserve the mayor’s progressive tax structure. Now is the time to come together to get this done.”
While aid to the homeless has increased marginally during the Lightfoot administration, it still ranks near the bottom among the 10 U.S. cities with the largest homeless populations, accounting for only .08 percent of what New York City allocates to the problem and 6 percent of what Los Angeles spends.
Meanwhile, homelessness in Chicago continues unchecked, affecting nearly 14,000 people who are currently working, more than 18,000 who have some college education, and more than 20,000 children, many of them struggling to stay in school, according to a 2019 analysis compiled by the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless.
I’ve asked Mayor Lightfoot’s spokesperson for comment and I’ll let you know what they say. Lightfoot has rejected past attempts at doing a deal, but she needs that money.
* It may just be me, but I think we’re seeing more and more candidates like this in both parties…
The two Democrats hoping to take Republican Congressman Rodney Davis’ 13th District seat this fall squared off Monday at the Champaign County Democratic primary forum. […]
The candidates were also asked whether they’d fully support their primary opponent in the general election if they became the Democratic nominee against Davis.
[Stefanie Smith of Urbana] wouldn’t commit to that.
“Why would that be your business? That’s not an appropriate question to ask somebody who they vote for. That’s private,” Smith said.
Um, the question was about whether she’d publicly support Londrigan if and/or (more likely) when she loses. It’s a standard question asked of primary candidates in both parties. Smith appears to belong to the left-wing version of the Eastern Bloc.
* The NRCC had a bit of fun with the forum…
Hey there -
Last night Betsy Dirksen Londrigan and Stefanie Smith dueled it out in a socialist battle for their far-left base.
Smith was a crowd favorite, given her unabashed support for socialized medicine and the Green New Deal.
In fact, Democrats were so upset with Betsy’s non-answers that they regularly interrupted her to chant “Medicare for all!”
So will Betsy be strong-armed by her primary opponent and give into her rabid base’s demands?
This is not a message for those of you fighting for your lives in this broken system. This is a message for the complicit: You don’t get to abuse us without a reckoning. I’m exercising my “No,” I do not consent to this violence.
You are Blue No Matter Who-ing people to literal death sentences at the hands of the State. Negligence IS violence, poverty IS violence, and state sanctioned rape, torture, and murder are still rape, torture, and murder.
And call it naïveté if you want, but I didn’t realize until I entered this race that the simple act of acknowledging bipartisan complicity in Trump’s bloated defense budget as well as expanded powers of censorship and surveillance would result in censorship from the local county Democrats. They stripped everyone’s website links because of my anti-imperialist stance. We aren’t going to meaningfully oppose tyranny by avoiding accountability. It’s undemocratic. It’s an act of suppression and an abuse of power that undermines trust.
It goes on like that for a while, but you get the idea.
Smith ended the year with $1,036.17 in her campaign account. So I’m guessing there will be no TV buys about acts of suppression and abuses of power by the local county party.
* Heidi Dalenberg, Director of the Institutional Reform Project, ACLU of Illinois…
We learned that yesterday another foster child was shackled during a DCFS transport. This is a clear violation of the child’s rights and DCFS’ promise to us, to the Court in B.H., and to all youth in care.
This is not a question of policy – this is about common decency. People should not need training or elaborate approval protocols to know that you don’t shackle children.
Just a few weeks ago – after previous, outrageous reports that children were being transported in shackles – DCFS agreed they would only use soft restraints in the rare circumstance when restraints were absolutely necessary, and they made the same promised to a federal court. Yet here we are again.
Anyone in the DCFS chain of command who either signed off on this transport knowing that shackles would be used, or who saw that occur, should step down from their position. No such person can be trusted to care for our children.
As for DCFS’ process and forms for approving restraints during transports, it’s clear that DCFS has to be taken out of that picture altogether. From here forward, we will be demanding that DCFS only use medical transport companies who are trained to properly handle children when there is a concern they might hurt themselves or others during a transport.
*** UPDATE 1 *** Jassen Strokosch with DCFS…
On February 10, a youth in our care was transported to an out-of-state facility. During the trip, the youth was unacceptably restrained with hard ankle restraints by a transportation contractor. The use of hard restraints on any child is completely unacceptable and violates the Department’s ban on ever using hard restraints. No one in our care should ever be mistreated like this.
We will be terminating our contract with the transport company and immediately notified the Office of the Inspector General of the incident to request a full investigation. The Department is conducting a thorough review of what took place and staff involved will be suspended from their role approving these transports. Based on the results of this review, staff will be held fully accountable. All relevant staff will also receive an immediate retraining to ensure protocols are followed moving forward. DCFS is deeply committed to ensuring every child in our care is treated with the utmost dignity and respect and that this never happens again.
*** UPDATE 2 *** Jordan Abudayyeh…
Traumatizing a child is unacceptable, and Gov. Pritzker is furious that a child has once again been subjected to these hard restraints, which are degrading and violate DCFS policy. From the moment he learned about this late Monday, the Governor charged DCFS with taking swift disciplinary action and stronger steps to prevent any inappropriate use of restraints. The Governor has instructed DCFS to fire the transportation company that violated this rule and directed DCFS to hold every employee who has violated its policy fully accountable.
Dr. Chuck Ellington (R-Camargo) released his first campaign ad in his bid to replace the retiring John Shimkus in the March Republican Primary. Dr. Chuck’s ad promotes that it takes real strength to overhaul Obamacare and support our farmers. Dr. Chuck will bring that real strength with him to Washington DC.
Ellington is one of four GOP candidates vying to replace Shimkus. According to his campaign website, he’s a “practicing family physician, licensed attorney, health policy expert, and assistant professor of Family and Community Medicine.”
E-PAC, the leadership committee of Rep. Elise Stefanik (NY-21), has officially endorsed conservative Republican Mary Miller, Candidate for Congress in the 15th District and named her a ‘Rising Star’ female candidate.
Stefanik posted the following statement on Twitter: “Mary Miller in Illinois 15 is a farmer, mother, grandmother, business manager, and teacher. She is running on conservative values of lowering taxes, supporting the 2nd Amendment, and pro-life issues.”
Rep. Stefanik and her leadership committee, E-PAC, are committed to helping strong Republican women get elected to Congress. Rep. Stefanik serves on the House Intelligence Committee, where she was one of President Trump’s strongest defenders and one of the House Democrats’ sharpest critics during the sham impeachment trial.
“It is an honor to be endorsed as one of E-PAC’s 2020 “Rising Star” Republican women. I am humbled to have the support of Rep. Elise Stefanik in this race,” Miller said. “Anyone who watched the impeachment trial saw how effective she was in defending our president. She is fearless and she continues to lead the charge to elect more Republican women to Congress. I look forward to joining her!”
Tuesday, Feb 11, 2020 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
We know we need to fix our broken immigration system. But Trump’s cruelty and incompetence have increased (rather than deterred) illegal immigration, needlessly punished asylum seekers and deported those who have long made their homes here.
The Trump strategy has failed.
Mike Bloomberg will change how the White House treats immigrants.
Mike’s plan will modernize ports of entry and implement sensible enforcement priorities that welcomes immigrants and protects national security. His plan opens America’s doors to the immigrants who are woven into the fabric of our community economies and gives new Americans and their neighbors the tools they need to thrive.
Caging children, breaking apart families, and rescinding DREAMER protections is wasteful and ineffective. Most of all, it’s not who we are as Americans.
Read more about Mike’s sensible, effective, and humane immigration policy platform here.
Alicia Elena Martinez interned in Ald. Ed Burke’s 14th Ward office and then worked for the Burke-controlled City Council Finance Committee in 2016.
She also helped Burke’s re-election campaign last year and shares petition circulators with the veteran alderman and 15th Ward Ald. Ray Lopez, a Burke ally.
And now she’s trying to win the state House seat held by state Rep. Aaron Ortiz, who ousted Burke’s brother two years ago. Martinez and Ortiz are also both running for 14th Ward Democratic committeeperson, a party post Burke has held for more than half a century. […]
Martinez says she finds any suggestion that she’d been picked to run by Burke or others in his political organization to divide the Latino vote was “offensive.”
A new bill proposed by a Northern Illinois lawmaker bans pumping your own fuel at all gas stations.
Illinois House Democrat Camille Y. Lilly who represents Oak Park near Chicago filed HB4571 with the Illinois General Assembly on February 5, 2020.
The synopsis for HB4571 states, “Creates the Gas Station Attendant Act. Provides that no gas may be pumped at a gas station in this State unless it is pumped by a gas station attendant employed at the gas station. Effective January 1, 2021.”
WGEM’s Illinois Capital Bureau Chief Mike Miletich spoke with Rep. Lilly Monday afternoon. She says the bill will not ban pumping your own gas.
Lilly said the bill language will be amended to give people an option when they go to gas stations.
She said customers could ask for help from an attendant or pump the gas themselves.
Lilly says she saw this idea is working in Atlanta. She says it’s especially valuable for families with small children or people with disabilities. It also could help create local jobs.
It’s just so weird that she went ahead and filed a bill like that even though she doesn’t apparently support its basic concept.
Currently, Illinois Medicaid is not guaranteed to cover clinical cancer treatment.
That would change is Senator Andy Manar’s bill gets passed into law. The bill would require the state to cover approved experimental treatment.
The bill passed out of committee on Wednesday, and now will head to the Senate floor. If it passes through both the House and Senate, Illinois will become the 14th state to make the change.
* Press release…
In an effort to reduce property taxes in Illinois, State Representative Dan Ugaste (R-Geneva) has filed six bills to provide necessary property tax relief for Illinois taxpayers and businesses.
Rep. Ugaste’s legislation will allow taxpayers to consolidate government entities that are too expensive and to ease the high property tax burden weighing on residents in his 65th community and statewide.
“The Democrat controlled Property Tax Relief Task Force failed to produce any solutions to help our taxpayers,” Ugaste said. “Our high property taxes are forcing too many families and businesses to leave, and residents are fed up. The bills that I have filed are a step forward to provide the real relief the task force failed to do.”
Rep. Ugaste’s 2020 agenda includes the following bills:
· HB4493: Requires elementary and high school districts to form new unit districts together, instead of having separate school districts for each.
· HB 4494: Limits local units of government and their ability to continue bonds.
· HB4495: For redevelopment projects, “blighted areas” must have a household median income of 100% or less of the area median income, as defined by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
· HB4496: Allows voters to consolidate townships if other units of government can operate more efficiently.
· HB4498: Limits tax increment financing (TIF) to 15 years.
· HB4762: Prohibits taxing districts from holding more than 150% of the previous levy year’s property tax collections and requires excess amounts to be refunded to taxpayers.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot is scheduled to be back in Springfield next week — this time to meet with Illinois House Republicans — after state lawmakers failed to deliver on either item on her legislative wish list during their brief fall session, House Republican leader Jim Durkin said Monday.
Lightfoot visited the State Capitol in November as she pushed for the Democratic-controlled legislature to revamp the tax structure for a long-proposed Chicago casino and authorize a graduated tax on real estate sales. Neither issue went anywhere, and the first-year mayor faced criticism in Springfield for only spending time with House Democrats. […]
During her stop in Springfield, Lightfoot has also scheduled a meeting with Senate Democrats, according to John Patterson, spokesman for Senate President Don Harmon. […]
“We have been having ongoing productive conversations with state leaders and appreciate the opportunity to work with the governor’s office and the General Assembly this session,” [Lightfoot] spokeswoman Anel Ruiz said in a statement. “We look forward to meeting with leadership and will be working with them closely to prioritize the casino and other opportunities to generate new revenues and opportunities that will move Chicago forward.”
