Today, Governor JB Pritzker joined elected officials, early childhood advocates, and education leaders to sign Senate Bill 0001 into law, officially establishing Illinois’ new Department of Early Childhood. The new state agency, first proposed by Governor Pritzker in October 2023, will focus exclusively on early childhood programs and services for young children, improving equity and accessibility for families and caregivers.
“Our state-funded early childhood programs operate across three different state agencies, putting an unnecessary burden on those families looking for support and on those providing the support that’s needed,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “I am very proud to usher in the beginning of a new era for early childhood education and care in Illinois – as we create the Department of Early Childhood. Once fully implemented in 2026, this new agency will make life simpler, better, and fairer for tens of thousands of Illinois families.”
“The launch of the Department of Early Childhood puts the needs of our youngest learners front and center,” said Lt. Governor Juliana Stratton. “We’re making it easier for parents to find quality care and education, no matter their zip code. This new agency marks a transformative step in ensuring that every child in Illinois has access to the high-quality care and education they deserve.”
Currently, services for young children are housed in three separate agencies: the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE), the Illinois Department of Human Services (DHS) and the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS). Navigating the current system is complex and inefficient, often leaving service gaps and challenges for historically underserved communities. With this new agency, early childhood programs will be unified to improve ease and availability for families and providers seeking state resources, including:
- The Early Childhood Block Grant at ISBE, which funds Preschool for All and the Prevention Initiative programs
- The Child Care Assistance Program, Home-Visiting programs, and Early Intervention services at DHS
Day care licensing currently managed by DCFS.
The transition will be led by education expert Ann Whalen, who has a background in education policy and teacher retention, and the Department of Early Childhood will begin administering all new programs in FY27 (July 1, 2026). Until then, programs will continue to be housed in legacy agencies as the State works with educators, parents, providers, and stakeholders to design the ideal framework and practical rollout for the new agency.
Nine Black families interviewed for this story said they felt neglected and disappointed in the Chicago Police Department’s handling of their loved one’s missing person cases — services a majority believed were denied because their relatives were Black.
People searching for their missing loved ones felt abandoned and revictimized by Chicago police. In the face of rude behavior, unanswered phone calls and slow or lackluster investigations where evidence was fumbled or even lost by detectives, friends and family had to conduct their own searches and collect their own evidence.
In worst-case scenarios, people believe police delays and missteps allowed their loved ones to be murdered, leaving perpetrators uncharged or cases unsolved. Moore still wonders if Smith would be alive if police had followed up quickly, examined Smith’s phone and immediately questioned the man Smith was last seen with.
Shirley Enoch-Hill believes she will never find out what happened to her daughter, Sonya Rouse, who dreamed of being a news anchor. When Rouse went missing in 2016 at age 50, Enoch-Hill immediately suspected Rouse’s boyfriend, whom she claims physically abused her daughter throughout their relationship. According to police documents, an Illinois Department of Corrections official offered to arrange an interview between police Detective Brian Yaverski and the boyfriend (who was in an IDOC work release program), but Yaverski “decided to wait.” More than a year later, the boyfriend died of a suspected fentanyl overdose, and Yaverski never interviewed him. (Reporters contacted Yaverski for comment but he did not respond. CPD media affairs also did not respond to a request for comment.)
*** Statehouse News ***
* Press Release | Schmidt highlights support of legislation benefitting Seniors: HB1074 increases the maximum income limitation for the senior freeze to $73,700 for the 2024 taxable year. HB1274 standardizes the senior citizens homestead exemption to $8,000 across all counties and raises the maximum income limitation for the senior citizens assessment freeze to $75,000. HB1219 allows seniors to deduct Medicare premiums from their annual household income to qualify for the Low-Income Senior Citizens Assessment Freeze Homestead Exemption.
*** Statewide ***
* Bar News | Illinois Supreme Court Appoints Emily J. Hampton ARDC Commissioner: Ms. Hampton is the Director of Human Resources at Illinois CancerCare, P.C. in Peoria. She manages all strategic and operational functions of Human Resources and Administration over 14 locations throughout Central Illinois. Her work involves employee benefits, recruitment and retention, compensation, legal issues, contracting, and labor relations. She oversees a staff of 550 employees, including more than 20 physicians and over 40 mid-level health care providers. She attends and presents information at bi-weekly physician board meetings.
* Block Club | Walmart Donates Chatham Training Academy To Chicago Urban League A Year After Abruptly Closing: The academy was part of the Chatham Supercenter, which included the Walmart Health Center and a Walmart grocery store. The store and health center spaces remain vacant. Chicago Urban League will pay for the six-figure renovation, helping the group expand its existing job training and entrepreneurship opportunities at the Chatham site, said Karen Freeman-Wilson, president and chief executive officer.
* Block Club | West Nile Virus Found In South Side Mosquitoes: The mosquitoes — the first local ones confirmed to have West Nile in 2024 — were found in Greater Grand Crossing, Roseland and West Pullman, according to a Department of Public Health news release. No cases have been confirmed in humans. To prevent the spread of this virus, Chicagoans can use insect repellent; get rid of standing water where mosquitoes breed; keep grass and weeds short; ensure all screens, windows and doors are tight-fitting and free of holes; and wear loose-fitting, light-colored clothing when outside at night, according to the health department.
* Tribune | Chicago Sky rookie Angel Reese is on track to be a WNBA All-Star — and she’s chasing a Candace Parker record on the way: Reese, who is second in the league in rebounding behind Wilson with 11.1 per game, was seventh in the first returns of fan voting with 118,490 votes. That ranked fourth among non-Olympians behind fellow rookie Clark (second overall), Boston (third) and Ogunbowale (fifth). “Every time that she’s stepped in, she keeps getting better,” Sky coach Teresa Weatherspoon said. “She does things that are incredible. Just to look at her, to see the way that she rebounds basketball — that’s All-Star status.”
* Crain’s | Union that helped build Chicago’s skyline opens new training facility: Ironworkers Local 63, which represented Chicago’s architectural and ornamental ironworkers, opened a 12,000-square-foot glass building at 2525 Lexington St. that will allow the union to simulate the pressurized work its members do such as installing glass windows and frames and other structural metal work on some of the city’s most recognizable buildings.
*** Cook County and Suburbs ***
* Shaw Local | St. Charles School Board president resigns from post, but staying on board: Before the vote, Fairgrieve, who has served on the school board since 2017 and as board president since May 2022, made a statement to address her reason for stepping down. “From my perspective, the reason for this agenda item is I am unable to complete all of my presidential duties at this time, specifically as they relate to school board policy 2:110,” Fairgrieve said.
* Sun-Times | Judge won’t overturn man’s murder conviction despite report that found ‘powerful evidence’ he may be innocent: A Cook County judge on Monday denied a man’s request to overturn his murder conviction, even as the state’s attorney’s office said it would not oppose it or seek to retry the case. In a nearly two-hour ruling, Judge Angela Petrone said Kevin Jackson’s latest attempt to overturn his conviction did not cite evidence that had not already been considered by his jury and other courts. In a statement released by his attorneys, Jackson said he believed the decision was “severely irrational and unjust.” His lawyers filed a notice of appeal hours later.
* Reason | Students in This Illinois School District Are Getting Tickets for Misbehaving: Students at an Illinois school district have been receiving tickets for misbehavior, resulting in fines of over $750, according to a complaint filed with the U.S. Department of Education this month. Further, the complaint alleges that black students in particular were singled out for this punishment—and white students who similarly broke school rules weren’t issued fines as frequently. Rockford Public Schools (RPS) serves a diverse group of nearly 30,000 students, around 30 percent of whom are black, 26 percent are white, and 31 percent are Hispanic. To handle disciplinary infractions, students are sometimes sent to school resource officers (SROs).
* WCIA | Urbana City Council passes budget without increased police funding: The proposed increase in funding for the Urbana Police Department has been a point of contention for weeks amongst the community. Chief Larry Boone wanted it in order to implement his plan for cutting down on crime — including new technology, increased staffing and improved community relations. Others wanted the funding to instead go toward having a more direct impact in the community such as social services and reducing poverty.
*** National ***
* Nieman Lab | Journalism has become ground zero for the vocation crisis:
As an occupation, journalism is attractive to many people because they can be paid to do work that’s interesting and socially beneficial. In this regard, it is similar to otherwise very different jobs like nursing, teaching, social work and caregiving. These are “vocations,” in the sense that sociologist Max Weber described them more than a century ago. Based on strong personal commitments, vocations promise recognition and a sense of self-worth for doing work that’s connected to broader values: healing people, fighting injustice, imparting knowledge, serving the cause of democracy.
* AP | US surgeon general declares gun violence a public health emergency: The advisory issued by Dr. Vivek Murthy, the nation’s top doctor, came as the U.S. grappled with another summer weekend marked by mass shootings that left dozens of people dead or wounded. “People want to be able to walk through their neighborhoods and be safe,” Murthy told The Associated Press in a phone interview. “America should be a place where all of us can go to school, go to work, go to the supermarket, go to our house of worship, without having to worry that that’s going to put our life at risk.”
* Bloomberg | Carolina Panthers win $650 million for stadium upgrade: The owner of the National Football League’s Carolina Panthers and Major League Soccer’s Charlotte Football Club has secured $650 million of public funds for a $1.3 billion renovation of Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina. The newly approved plan uses existing hospitality and tourism tax resources to finance Charlotte’s part of the renovation through 2029. The sports group run by billionaire David Tepper, called Tepper Sports & Entertainment, is on the hook for another $150 million over the same time period. Tepper owns both the Panthers and Charlotte FC.
CHICAGO, IL — “Communism has been banned in the United States since 1954 with the Communist Control Act, yet we have numerous government officials who prescribe to Socialist ideology,” said R. Cary Capparelli, Republican candidate for the special two-year term at the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago.
Capparelli added, “Communism is a growth of Socialism and we have a mayor in Chicago and other elected officials, all Democrats, that act as a Socialists.” He further noted that at least six (6) aldermen are members of the Chicago City Council Democrat Socialist Caucus.
“Leftists in academia are the foundation of the Socialist movement and they are poisoning our youth with unreasonable expectations. It’s also causing dishonesty in media which is ‘playbook’ Communistic tactic to disrupt honest government,” concluded Capparelli.
Voters are urged to disregard the term ‘progressive’ as it’s clandestine wordage for ‘socialist’. Republican candidates throughout Chicago and Cook County are working diligently to earn votes in the upcoming election to give citizens a real government with strong American values.
Other local Republican candidates in the November election include: Robert Fioretti for State’s Attorney, Lupe Aguirre for Clerk of the Circuit Court, Michelle Pennington for Cook County Clerk, Tien Glaub for Judge of the Cook County Circuit Court and the trio of Claire Connelly, Brendan Ehlers and Richard Dale, all for the six-year term at the MWRD.
Corporate Personal Property Replacement Tax Revenue and K-12 Education Funding in Illinois: Volume II, the newest report released today from the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability (CTBA), finds that revenues from a tax on all Illinois businesses have surged in recent years, helping fund local government services, including education, but now are expected to decline sharply, “with important implications for state funding of K-12 education.” The report from the nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization, finds that revenue from the Corporate Personal Property Replacement Tax (CPPRT) more than tripled between fiscal year 2019 and fiscal year 2023, jumping from $1.33 billion to $4.54 billion. But the Illinois Department of Revenue is expecting a fall of nearly 29% in FY2024. The revenues have been an important contributor to the state’s Evidence Based Formula for Student Success Act (EBF), and current projections show that CPPRT revenue to school districts in fy’25 will be $400 million less than they are in fy’24. “As CPPRT revenue begins to decline in the coming years, the educational services previously funded by some of the unexpected growth in CPPRT revenue will have to be funded with other revenue sources or be cut,” the report says.
The rise in CPPRT, according to the report, is due to a number of relatively unique economic circumstances: the release of pent-up consumer spending that occurred after pandemic restrictions were eased, higher than normal rates of inflation, and many corporations taking advantage of inflationary trends generally and supply chain issues specifically to price gouge and thereby generate record profit. The spike “was a mixed blessing. On the one hand, it did help close the statewide Adequacy Gap (in education funding) at a faster rate than anticipated—which is good. On the other hand, the CPPRT is a local revenue source, so the spike that occurred during the Surge Years effectively shifted more K-12 funding to local rather than state level resources, which is not ideal in Illinois, which already relies more on local revenue to fund K-12 education than any other state in the nation.” As CPPRT revenue growth reverts back to historical levels, the statewide Adequacy Gap will begin to worsen annually if the state maintains its current approach of increasing its year-to-year Tier funding by [$350] million, the report says. “Hence the amount of time it takes to fund the EBF fully will lengthen past current projections—which is an undesirable outcome to say the least.”
According to the report, Corporate Personal Property Replacement Tax revenue shot up from $1.3 billion in Fiscal Year 2019 to $4.5 billion in Fiscal Year 2023. It’s projected to drop down to $3.2 billion this fiscal year.
(H)istoric highs in CPPRT revenue help explain why CPS moved into the next higher funding Tier under the EBF over the last two fiscal years. Also… other factors—including a reduction in total [Average Student Enrollment ] as well as a reduction in low-income student count, played a role in bumping CPS from Tier 1 into Tier 2. This change in Tiers for CPS was consequential. When CPS moved from a Tier 1 district to a Tier 2 district in FY 2023, the district lost just over half—52 percent—of its anticipated share in new, year-to-year state Tier funding.
A major fiscal complication that arises from using CPPRT as a part of local resources is that it allocates revenue to school districts in accordance with their respective collections of Tangible Personal Property Tax revenue in either 1976 or 1977, depending on whether or not the district is in Cook County. Much has changed in the Illinois landscape over the last half-century, demographically, industry-wise, and economically.
Which means the allocation formula used in the CPPRT is outdated and no longer representative of where businesses exist geographically in Illinois. For example, in FY 2024, CPPRT revenue made up nearly 65 percent of the total Final Resources for Monticello CUSD 25 (“CUSD 25”). Part of the reason CPPRT revenue comprises such a significant portion of CUSD 25’s revenue is that, in 1977 large businesses like Illinois Power and General Cable were sited in CUSD 25’s community—allowing it to collect significant revenue from its assessment of the Tangible Personal Property Tax. Those industries have gone, yet the district’s CPPRT revenue share is determined as if they still exist.
Other districts that did not have as strong of a business or industrial presence in 1976 or 1977 are likely receiving significantly lesser shares of CPPRT revenue, even if they are now home to bigger business entities. This effectively means that CPPRT taxes paid by a business sited in one community are being transferred to the benefit of a school district sited in a different community, based on antiquated allocation design. Fixing these distortions will not be easy—as certain districts would stand to lose significant funding for their schools through any modernization of the CPPRT allocation formula, and should be held harmless by the state to ensure their financial condition is not impaired.
* Twitter went kinda nuts after an NBC Sports Chicago host posted this…
Source: The Bears have made progress in their discussions with Arlington Heights and the school district board for their stadium deal. The belief is that Kevin Warren’s timeline to get a deal done remains aggressive.
* I checked around and was told the story was, um, bovine excrement. “Change ’stadium deal’ to ‘property tax appeal’ and it might be accurate.”
* And now comes the inevitable walkback…
Update: Bears continue to work towards a resolution regarding property taxes with school board and Arlington Heights on the land they own. AH remains hopeful Bears will build their new stadium there. The Bears maintain their stadium focus remains on the museum campus in Chicago.
Tuesday, Jun 25, 2024 - Posted by Advertising Department
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• A $323.9 million contract to Judlau Contracting Inc., College Point, NY, to reconstruct and reconfigure the southbound side of the I-290/I-88 Interchange on the Central Tri-State Tollway (I-294) between the Cermak Toll Plaza and St. Charles Road
A contractor that says its $323 million contract for work on the massive Interstate 294 reconstruction project was improperly terminated has sued the Illinois Tollway.
Judlau Contracting, a New York-based company, says in its lawsuit that it had started work on the interchange of Interstate 290 and Interstate 88 when its contract was terminated by the Illinois Tollway on May 16. The lawsuit, filed in DuPage County Circuit Court, says the action was without proper legal basis and harmed the company’s reputation and overall business.
The company also says the sudden halt in the project could cost taxpayers millions of dollars extra and create safety risks for drivers on the interchange. […]
Judlau said the state agency cited two specific provisions for ending the contract. One specifies that termination can only occur if “there are changed circumstances, the effects of which were not known to the Tollway at the time of execution of the contract, and, for these reasons, the Tollway determines that termination is in its best interest,” according to the complaint. The other provision allows the Tollway to “cancel or alter any or all portions of the work” due to “circumstances either unknown at the time of bidding or arising after the contract was entered into.”
Judlau said it knows of no factors that satisfy those provisions, and that the Tollway did not provide further explanation, responding only several days later by saying “at this time, we do not have any additional information to convey regarding the termination.”
Judlau was chosen as the lowest bidder in 2023 to reconfigure the southbound side of the tangled interchange for about $323 million, the lawsuit states.
The company had hired subcontractors and laborers, moved equipment to the site, secured materials, and was about six weeks into construction when it was dismissed “in a cursory two-sentence letter.”
Pulling the plug on the work will impact hundreds of jobs, Judlau contends, and also create traffic hazards. Workers “left the site in a safe condition via use of temporary barriers — but this is not a permanent solution.”
The tollway has steadfastly refused comment.
* But now we’re finally getting some answers. Marni Pyke…
Tollway officials said in an affidavit they did not initially realize they had to apply a 4% preference, or reduction, to Illinois companies bidding for the job. Judlau is based in New York.
The 4% preference is a relatively new change to the state procurement code that went into effect in December 2023.
The tollway board awarded the contract to Judlau, which was the low bidder over [Walsh Construction], in November.
But in April, “I reviewed the bids submitted … and discovered that the tollway had not allocated a 4% bid preference to the base bid submitted by Walsh, which was and is an Illinois business,” Chief of Procurement Peter Foernssler said, according to court documents.
The tollway misunderstood the mandatory nature of the change in procurement policy, he added.
*Facepalm*
According to Pyke’s story, a DuPage County judge has now issued a temporary restraining order preventing the tollway from hiring another firm.
Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch is urging a Cook County judge to dismiss a lawsuit members of his staff filed against him last month seeking to force recognition of their union.
In a new filing Monday, attorneys for Welch argued the Illinois Legislative Staff Association has no standing to sue over the speaker’s refusal to engage in collective bargaining with the would-be union’s members. Welch’s attorneys reiterated an argument the speaker has been making for nearly a year: Illinois law doesn’t currently allow legislative staffers to unionize.
Although Welch last fall introduced and passed legislation through the House that would explicitly allow his employees to unionize, the bill has not advanced in the Senate. The ILSA last month accused Welch of feigning solidarity in public while privately colluding with Democratic Senate President Don Harmon to ensure the bill died in his chamber. And a few days after the General Assembly’s spring session concluded, the staffers sued Welch.
The speaker’s attorneys pointed to the ILSA’s “failure to appeal” the Illinois Labor Relations Board’s decision to not certify the union in March 2023, which found legislative staffers are specifically excluded from being able to form a union.
Speaker Welch is Immune from Suit Regarding his Interactions With Legislative Staff Under Article IV, Section 12 of the Illinois Constitution Requiring Dismissal Under Section 2-619(a)(1) of the Code of Civil Procedure.
Article IV, Section 12 of the Illinois Constitution, which attaches broad immunity to legislators regarding legislative activities, provides:
SECTION 12. LEGISLATIVE IMMUNITY
Except in cases of treason, felony or breach of peace, a member shall be privileged from arrest going to, during, and returning from sessions of the General Assembly. A member shall not be held to answer before any other tribunal for any speech or debate, written or oral, in either house. These immunities shall apply to committee and legislative commission proceedings.
* ISLA organizer Brady Burden…
“These legal gymnastics are embarrassing. Speaker Welch is saying that he is both above the law and shackled by it. The Illinois Constitution unequivocally guarantees us the right to bargain collectively, and we remain confident the courts will ultimately side with us. At the end of the day, Speaker Welch is only continuing to demonstrate his utter lack of shame.”
* ICYMI: Ed Burke sentenced to 24 months in prison. Crain’s…
Ed Burke, Chicago’s longest-serving alderman, was sentenced to 24 months in federal prison and fined $2 million today for attempting to steer business to his law firm in exchange for helping companies big and small navigate the City Council where he held enormous sway.
Burke, 80 years old, was convicted in December on charges of racketeering, attempted extortion, conspiracy to commit extortion and promoting bribery, official misconduct and extortion. The sentence was far lighter than what Burke could have received and less than what some had expected.
U.S. District Judge Virginia Kendall acknowledged the sentence of 24 months in prison, coupled with a $2 million fine, is unusual.
“I’ve never done this before,” she said, describing her thinking. “How do we give a sense to the public of some redress for the harm? One of the things I think would give them redress is the fines that are much higher usual. . . .Fines go into the victim crime fund. Part of my sentence is going to be a really significant fine.”
New: Attorneys for House Speaker Chris Welch filed a motion in Cook County Circuit Court today to dismiss a lawsuit that was filed against him last month by legislative staffers seeking to form a union. #twillhttps://t.co/RQS4Qxcgau
* Capitol News Illinois | Advocates say SCOTUS ruling paves way for law ensuring abusers have guns confiscated: But after Friday’s high court ruling, advocates say there is nothing else standing in the way of lawmakers taking up the bill, which last summer was rebranded “Karina’s Bill” after Gonzalez’s murder. The bill would clarify existing state law and require law enforcement to take guns from those subject to certain domestic violence orders of protection. Amanda Pyron, executive director of Chicago-based domestic violence advocacy organization The Network, said it “hit a lot of us really hard” that Friday’s Supreme Court decision was published on the one-year anniversary of Gonzalez’s order of protection against her husband.
* WAND | Pritzker promotes Illinois workforce, innovation during 2024 SelectUSA investment summit: “We are a state that brings workforce, energy and great sites,” Pritzker said. “Just like Governor Youngkin, we invest in our sites to make sure that what you’re looking for is available in the state of Illinois.” Pritzker said he is glad that the Illinois economy has recovered following the COVID-19 pandemic, thanks to major investments in renewable energy, manufacturing and quantum technology.
* Capitol Connection | Health insurance industry plans for incoming reforms: There are a number of reforms on the way for the health insurance industry. Governor Pritzker made it a top priority this legislative session, and now health insurance companies are preparing to make the changes. The plan prevents health insurance companies from using a process called step therapies, where they require a patient to use a less expensive option, even if their doctor prescribes something different. It also bans prior authorization for mental health treatments, and it requires health insurance companies to regularly audit their directories.
*** Statehouse News ***
* Tribune | Illinois’ landmark credit card fee law prompting strong opposition: Just last week a trade association representing credit card companies and banks began running online ads in Illinois declaring the ban “MAY FORCE YOU TO PAY FOR PARTS OF PURCHASE IN CASH,” and print ads saying, “Tipping on your credit card is closed to Illinoisans.” While some supporters — which include many Democrats and Illinois’ main association for retailers — say those claims are hyperbolic, the new law is setting up what could be a yearslong fight between the state and financial institutions that argue the overhaul is not only a bad idea but is unrealistic because it calls for implementation in a little more than a year.
* Cook County Record | Former Employee Sues Major Party Supply Company Over Biometric Data Violations: Marquez was employed at Party City’s Naperville, Illinois distribution warehouse from August 26, 2018, to June 20, 2019. According to the complaint, Party City uses voice recognition technology called “Vocollect” to manage its warehouse operations. This technology requires employees to provide voiceprints—unique biometric identifiers created by reading specific words into the system during training. These voiceprints are then stored and used to identify workers during their shifts. The lawsuit alleges that Party City collected these voiceprints without informing employees or obtaining their written consent as mandated by BIPA.
* NBC Chicago | From gas taxes to minimum wage, here are changes coming on July 1 in Illinois: While Illinois’ minimum wage will not go up, residents in Cook County and Chicago will see higher minimum wages starting on July 1. According to city officials, the minimum wage in Chicago will rise to $16.20 an hour, up from $15.80. That number increases annually according to the Consumer Price Index or a rate of 2.5%, whichever is lower, according to officials.
*** Chicago ***
* Sun-Times | 47 candidates file for Chicago school board elections: Chicago’s first-ever school board elections will feature 47 candidates vying for 10 seats, a number surpassing most expectations and including parents, former teachers and principals, nonprofit workers and a rapper. The window for hopefuls to submit their minimum 1,000 signatures to get on the ballot closed Monday afternoon with more than two dozen final-day submissions wrapping up the week-long process that kicked off the elections.
* Chalkbeat | Who are the Chicago school board candidates for the 2024 election?: To learn more about the new school board districts and find out which one you live in, Chalkbeat created an interactive map. Many candidates have also begun fundraising for their campaigns, reporting contributions to the Illinois State Board of Elections.
* Daily Herald | Cook County tax bills going out on time in July, officials say: After two years of significant delays blamed on the COVID-19 pandemic and technological problems, the second installment of Cook County property tax bills for Tax Year 2023 will be issued on time next month, officials announced Monday. Nearly 1.8 million tax bills will be accessible online by July 2 and mailed out early in the month, with a due date of Aug. 1, county officials said.
*** Downstate ***
* Advantage | Alton flood reduction measures to be discussed: Alton is kicking around the ways to protect downtown against future flood events. The city has spent millions of dollars building temporary walls and on post-flood cleanup in recent years, so the Riverfront Advisory Commission will hear a “Flood Mitigation Project Update” at the end of Tuesday’s public meeting. Most of the discussion since the topic was first brought up in late 2022 has focused on a permanent flood wall, but Christine Favilla of the local Sierra Club tells The Big Z there are other options.
* WREX | Rockford to host Ironman competition, city announced Monday: The competition, which is being called Ironman 70.3, is set to take place in 2025, 2026 and 2027. The triathlon will consist of swimming, biking and running, that will have athletes compete throughout Rockford as well as the countryside north of the city.
*** National ***
* Tribune | Early adopters, mainstream success, buyer’s remorse — where is the EV market headed?: In 2023, EVs made up 18% of global passenger-vehicle sales. By 2030, according to the report, 45% will be EVs. That number jumps to 73% by 2040 — still short of what the world needs to reach net zero emissions in transportation, the firm says, but enough to achieve major reductions in climate-changing carbon emissions. The long-term outlook adds a bit of glow to more recent news, especially in the U.S. and in California, where an EV sales slowdown, led by Tesla, has spanned two quarters, challenging the state’s climate goals.
* Crain’s | Supreme Court rejects challenge to $2.67B Blue Cross settlement: Justices declined a petition from the home improvement retailer, design consultancy Topographic and benefits provider Employee Services alleging that the settlement does not treat self-insured customers fairly and does not go far enough to promote competition between Blue Cross companies. The court did not specify why it rejected the employers’ request. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit ruled in October that 93.5% of the settlement funds should reimburse individual and small business policyholders that paid monthly premiums for Blue Cross plans and that self-insured employers receive the remaining amount.
* NBC | Texas abortion ban linked to 13% increase in infant and newborn deaths: Lawmakers passed Texas Senate Bill 8, or SB8, in September 2021. The state law banned abortions as soon as a fetal heartbeat is detected, which can be as early as five weeks. This effectively banned abortion in the state, which used to allow abortion up to 22 weeks of pregnancy. The law did not include exemptions for congenital anomalies, including conditions that will cause a newborn to die soon after birth. The new study compared infant death rates in Texas from 2018 to 2022 to those of 28 other states. The data included newborns 28 days or younger and infants up to 12 months old. Infant deaths in Texas rose by nearly 13% the year after SB8 was passed, from 1,985 in 2021 to 2,240 in 2022. During that same period, infant deaths rose by about 2% nationwide.
///BREAKING/// Former Chicago Ald. Edward Burke, 80, sentenced to 2 years in federal prison in a corruption case that rocked city politics and ended the Democratic stalwart’s storied and controversial six-decade career. pic.twitter.com/PcxScppS6n
…Adding… That sentence seems at odds with what the judge said at the beginning of today’s proceedings and toward the end…
Kendall tells him she intends to fashion a sentence that prevents Burke and others from committing like crimes, promotes respect for the rule of law, and avoids any unwarranted sentencing disparities (all of which is how she is supposed to proceed).
Kendall says it seems askew to think that Danny Solis will get "absolutely no" prison time for his own misdeeds. "It is uncomfortable for me to see that when the government steps up and says you must send a strong message" that Solis is not even getting a conviction.
The sentencing guidelines called for a maximum of 8 years behind bars.
* But…
Kendall says she's never seen so many letters of support. "So many of these actions were unsolicited, small, altruistic acts of kindness. …I have never seen anyone go to so many funerals. He goes to all of them."
…Adding… The BGA points out that the sentence is less than half of what the defense had requested…
Former Chicago alderperson Ed Burke today was sentenced to two years in prison and fined $2 million for his conviction on 13 charges, including racketeering, conspiracy, extortion and bribery. The sentence is a relatively light one, sparing Burke the lengthy prison stay of up to 12 ½ years requested by federal prosecutors.
Federal sentencing guidelines, which are not mandatory, called for between 78 and 97 months, based on the financial cost of his crimes, according to presiding judge Virginia Kendall. The defense had requested between four and five years in prison.
In response to the sentencing, Better Government Association President David Greising stated, “Today’s light sentence calls into question the principle of equality before the law. Despite Ed Burke’s betrayal of public trust, the powerful and connected of Chicago lined up to plead for leniency. Judge Kendall herself said she was influenced by this. But to those who believe in accountable government, it was a disappointing spectacle, putting personal allegiance ahead of the public interest, and should have had little weight on imposing a just sentence. ”
Numerous high-profile political figures wrote letters to the court requesting a lenient sentence, including former and current alderpersons. “Ed Burke was convicted for gross abuses of public trust while serving as one of Chicago’s most powerful alderpeople,” said Greising. “The sentence indicates the vestiges of that power persist.”
The Better Government Association’s policy team has advocated for banning lobbyist contributions to city elections and an end to the use of so-called “aldermanic prerogative” to block zoning changes in an alderperson’s ward. The organization also supports a long-stalled ethics ordinance update that the mayor’s administration has refused to support.
Greising called on City Council to make a statement by quickly approving reforms as a signal of their intent to clean up city government. “City Council has an opportunity to show that abuses of power like Ed Burke’s will no longer be tolerated in their body,” said Greising. “With or without the mayor’s support, the council should move forward on ethics reform.”
…Adding… Burke could use his campaign funds to pay off the fine…
I don't know. But politicians who were around in 1998 - when the state changed the law - can convert whatever they had on June 30, 1998 to personal use.
* Ed Burke’s sentencing hearing is still in progress as I write this. But you can check out these threads from Jason Meisner and Jon Seidel for live updates.
* Sens. Julie Morrison and Celina Villanueva…
State Senators Julie Morrison and Celina Villanueva responded Friday to the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling that upheld a federal law restricting firearm possession for domestic violence abusers.
“This decision reinforces the intent behind laws like Illinois’ Firearms Restraining Order Act, which I championed to prevent tragedies by keeping guns out of the hands of people who demonstrate threatening behavior,” said Morrison (D-Lake Forest). “When a credible threat to the physical safety of another person is identified, it is imperative that action is taken swiftly — the consequences of not intervening are too great. I commend the U.S. Supreme Court for upholding these lifesaving protections, and I remain committed to advocating for tangible solutions to keep our communities safe.”
“Domestic violence situations can escalate quickly when firearms are involved, and these restrictions are a vital component in the effort to reduce and prevent domestic violence-related homicides,” said Villanueva (D-Chicago). “There is still more work to do when it comes to protecting survivors and their families in Illinois, but I am glad to see these restrictions upheld at the federal level. I am hopeful that this will continue, on a state level, for us to move forward with Karina’s Law.”
Governor JB Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity(DCEO), local officials and IRONMAN leadership today announced that Rockford will host the IRONMAN 70.3 triathlon beginning next year in 2025 through 2027. Supported by a $800,000 grant to the Rockford Area Convention & Visitors Bureau (Go Rockford) as part of the state’s $15 million Tourism Incentive Grant Program, this is the first time the IRONMAN will be held in Illinois. The race is expected to generate upwards of $45 million in economic impact over three years.
“I’m thrilled to welcome the IRONMAN 70.3 triathlon to Illinois,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “My administration’s Tourism Incentive Grant Program attracted this major event to Rockford, and we look forward to showcasing Illinois’ natural beauty and world-class hospitality to the thousands of athletes and spectators that will join us over the next three years.” […]
The triathlon will consist of a 1.2-mile swim on the Rock River, a 56-mile bike loop that takes athletes through the area north of Rockford and a 13.1-mile run that will take runners from Davis Park on a two-loop journey on the east and west banks of the Rock River. The event is expected to draw in nearly 3,000 athletes and 15,000 visitors during each race. The race is also expected to fill an estimated to 7,000-12,000 hotel room nights.
*** Statehouse News ***
* Daily Herald | The Springfield recap: Highlights from this legislative session: Illinois politicians enacted a law that will support small businesses struggling to hire employees, foster opportunities for formerly incarcerated individuals, improve public safety and significantly reduce the costs of reincarceration. Soon small businesses will be able to receive a much higher tax credit for hiring formerly incarcerated individuals to offset the costs of on-the-job training. This hard-earned victory took years to achieve and came to fruition through grit, collaboration, and the leadership of dedicated policymakers.
* Shaw Local | New Illinois program will give incentive to taxpayers who donate to foundation endowments: The Illinois Gives Tax Credit Act will incentivize up to $100 million over the next five years, starting Jan. 1. The funds will be equally distributed among the certified community foundations in the state, including The Community Foundation for McHenry County. Each community foundation will be able to take a maximum of 15% of the $100 million, Alliance of Illinois Community Foundations Executive Director Amanda Standerfer said.
*** Statewide ***
* Fox Chicago | Illinois blood center calls for donations amid shortage: Versiti Blood Center of Illinois issued an emergency appeal on Monday in response to the decreasing state-wide blood supply. Almost 5,000 blood donation appointments at the center were canceled or missed in June. […] Some blood types only have a day’s supply of blood left, which puts local patients in need of blood at risk.
* Tribune | CPD pushes to boost its ‘clearance’ rate in homicide cases, with some success: As part of the city’s new contract with the Fraternal Order of Police, CPD’s detective bureau restructured the schedules of homicide detectives across the city in an effort to boost the clearance rate by giving investigators more ownership of a case. Antoinette Ursitti, CPD’s chief of detectives, said the staffing change has made “a profound effect” on the bureau. As of June 20, the department had a clearance rate of more than 65% — a marked increase from the 51.7% clearance rate the bureau recorded in 2023 and well higher than its overall clearance rate of 44% between 2012 and 2022.
* WTTW | Chicago Police Department Revises Plan to Handle Protests Around DNC After Reform Groups Object: Alexandra Block, director of the Criminal Legal System and Policing Project at the ACLU of Illinois, who represents the coalition, said the revised policy represents a “substantial improvement” over the original policy, even though concerns remain. “The coalition does not endorse this policy,” Block told WTTW News on Friday, in advance of a formal summary of their response to the new policy being filed next week with the federal judge overseeing the consent decree. “But it is a policy that we made better.”
* Mass Transit | RTA of Northern Illinois Board of Directors votes in favor of integrated day pass for unlimited rides on CTA, Metra and Pace: The approved agreement sets the pricing parameters for the day pass for unlimited rides on CTA and Pace and on selected fare zones for Metra on weekdays, ranging between $10 and $16. There will be one systemwide price on the weekend days of $10. Riders will be able to purchase this pass using the Ventra App at a discounted price in comparison to purchasing two existing passes separately (the CTA/Pace 1-Day Pass and the Metra day pass). The fare revenue difference will be funded by the RTA of Northern Illinois and distributed to CTA, Metra and Pace.
* Crain’s | Ex-employee sues National Association of Realtors over alleged smear campaign: A former employee of the National Association of Realtors is suing the Chicago-based trade association, claiming that after she was fired over complaining of workplace discrimination, a retaliation campaign ensued, including cyberstalking her and attempting to ruin her career. Roshani Sheth claims that after the NAR fired her on the heels of her internal complaint about sexual harassment — including men in the workplace ogling her breasts and commenting about her body — the organization declined to even confirm her prior employment at the association when potential future employers checked her references.
* CoStar | San Francisco Firm Seeks Sale of Historic Office Building in Chicago After High-Profile Loss: Shorenstein Properties has hired JLL brokers to seek a buyer for the 16-story building at 1 N. State St., which is more than 58% vacant, according to a marketing brochure. The offering does not include separately owned retail space on the lower two floors of the tower that was completed in 1912. It’s a challenging time for deals around the country: Shorenstein in December not only sold the third-tallest building in Los Angeles, the Aon Center, for $153.5 million, far below the $268.5 million it paid in 2014, it recently handed the second-tallest building in Minneapolis, Capella Tower, back to its lender after failing to sell the property and pay off its loan from a $225 million purchase in 2018. Shorenstein also faces a potential loss on the smaller tower it bought in Chicago for nearly $80 million in 2016.
* Tribune | Ann Lurie, one of Chicago’s most prolific philanthropists, dies at 79: Her name and that of her husband Robert, who died in 1990, are affixed most prominently to Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. But there have been dozens of other beneficiaries in Chicago and across the world, fueled by Robert Lurie’s success in business but also by Ann Lurie’s deeply altruistic nature. “When I was young, my mother encouraged me to ‘do a good deed daily,’” she said some years ago. “Following her advice as a teenager gave me a great deal of personal pleasure, and now, many years later, it still feels good.”
* Crain’s | After a rocky path to approval, Northwestern breaks ground on new stadium: University and city of Evanston officials gathered, along with members of the Ryan family, for the groundbreaking ceremony today, which included remarks by Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss, who cast the deciding vote in November to narrowly grant approval for the new football stadium. “The Ryan family is proud to enable this generational, transformational project that will catapult Northwestern to the forefront of athletics facilities while creating a powerful year-round asset for the Northwestern and Evanston communities,” Ryan, whose $480 million donation kick-started the stadium project, said in a written statement.
* Daily Herald | Why Des Plaines may become latest suburb to lift limits on beekeeping: If new rules are approved, Des Plaines would join a slowly growing list of suburbs that have changed course in recent years and now allow people to keep honeybees in backyard hives. The council’s change of heart comes a little more than a year after it softened restrictions for keeping chickens in coops at home. Bees and chickens often are linked as municipal issues, and several aldermen pointed to the earlier decision as a positive development and a reason to allow beekeeping.
*** National ***
* Columbia Journalism Review | When they won’t even say ‘no comment’: The rising tide of nonresponses coincides with the rise of social media, which enables the subject of any news story to bypass pesky journalists by putting out his or her own messages. It also parallels the growing hostility toward the press, at least among some political figures. Florida governor Ron DeSantis’s former press secretary, Christina Pushaw, sometimes posted media requests to her social feeds before bothering to communicate with the reporter; she then all but invited her followers to deride the reporter for seeking her input. Reporters seeking comment from Twitter’s press office in the months following Elon Musk’s purchase of the platform received an automated poop emoji. At least it was a response.
* The Cut | Liz Phair Remembers It All: In the years since, between follow-up albums — Whip-Smart, Whitechocolatespaceegg, Liz Phair, and Soberish — and a memoir, Phair is going back to her roots by celebrating the 30th anniversary of Exile in Guyville with a tour, swinging by Kings Theatre in Brooklyn on November 24. A germaphobe with a father who was an infectious-disease doctor during the AIDS epidemic, Phair says she needed a “really strong sense of purpose” to hit the road again. “When the pandemic came, in my mind I’d been waiting for this, which doesn’t help — sort of like, Oh, God, it’s here,” she admits. “Concurrently, I’m humbled and amazed and grateful that Guyville, this little record that could, is still relevant and powerful to people 30 years later. I’ve watched it be recognized here and there in ways that just stun me.”
* Crain’s | How a cyberattack took 15,000 car dealers offline: The Hoffman Estates-based company is one of just a handful of dealer management system providers that underpin auto retailers’ ability to access customer records, schedule appointments, handle car-repair orders and complete transactions, among other tasks. CDK has confirmed it’s been the subject of a cyber-ransom event, and Bloomberg reported that the company was planning to pay the tens of millions of dollars that the group behind the hacks had demanded in order to restore service.
* Instead of treating the COVID dollars as temporary, some school districts, like CPS, put that money right into the operating budget, with predictable results…
Administrators, teachers and parents in the Chicago Public Schools system and districts throughout the region are grappling with the end of federal pandemic aid, a looming fiscal cliff because of the steep decline in the one-time funding. There’s worry that the loss of funds will stem the progress that’s been made since 2022. And additional funds are sorely needed to increase academic proficiency at districts like CPS that have large numbers of low-income students and English language learners.
The loss is acute at CPS, which spent nearly two-thirds of its $2.8 billion in COVID dollars on salaries and employee benefits. The district aims to preserve positions that enhance classroom learning, primarily in higher-needs schools, while cutting other costs such as central office staff, says Chief Education Officer Bogdana Chkoumbova. […]
Other districts in the Chicago area took different approaches to spending the federal COVID dollars, allocating less on salaries and benefits to avoid layoffs down the road.
That was the case in District 129 in West Aurora, where the administration spent only 26% of COVID funds on salaries and dedicated 46% to capital outlays such as personal protective equipment and upgrading the heating and cooling systems. It received nearly $43 million in federal funds.
* Association of Illinois Soil & Water Executive Director Michael Woods sent this message on May 30…
Dear SWCD colleagues, stakeholders, and supporters,
Illinois’ 103rd General Assembly has finalized the FY25 budget. While many are celebrating, we on the frontlines of soil and water conservation are yet again disillusioned by a frontal attack that has landed at our doorsteps. As a recap, the governor proposed returning the state’s investment into Soil and Water Conservation Districts to pre-2000 funding levels ($4.5 million) for his FY25 budget, the director of the Illinois Department of Agriculture declared in the IDOA appropriations committee that this was the funding level proposed and that increased funding would have to be a legislative member-led initiative. Thus, AISWCD—on behalf of the state’s SWCDs—in partnership with many supporters (Illinois Soybean Association, Illinois Environmental Council, IEC, Illinois Stewardship Alliance, and others) banded together to engage our elected officials in the statehouse on several occasions. Many legislators (in both parties) declared their support and discontent with the proposed funding levels. Sadly, our supporters in the Senate were not able to adjust the funding levels as requested in the final $53.1 billion budget. And, our advocates in the House furthered the Senate by approving the FY25 budget late on Tuesday. It has now advanced to the governor’s office to be signed into law with a roughly 48% decrease in SWCD operational funding. […]
While the outcome we had advocated for did not come to fruition, we will find a path forward to ensure that the state’s essential Soil and Water Conservation Districts remain on the frontlines in protecting the state’s most vital natural resources…soil and water. […]
At this time, we must take the high road and find a path forward, and not dwell in the actions to cut SWCD funding and the attack on intergenerational equity and sustainable investing. Rather we must find a path forward to ensure that we: 1) diversify our treasury to become less dependent on volatile funding; 2) maintain service to our stakeholders to ensure the acceleration of locally-led efforts to conserve, protect, and restore the land and water across the state; and 3) engage those that value the frontline, boots-on-the-ground conservation agriculture essential to protect the stability and sustainability of Illinois.
At the federal level, the Biden administration has showcased a deep understanding and appreciation for conservation by investing an unprecedented amount into agricultural conservation across the nation. As we each are aware, these conservation commitments often fall short, and implementation—the real crux of field level conservation—lags far behind the promises in light of reduced technical assistance (operational) funding for frontline Soil and Water Conservation District staff. Nevertheless, now is the time we shall rise to the occasion and strive to elevate the same level of federal support through understanding at the state level. While the state’s return to pre-2000 funding for SWCD has taken place with the FY25 budget, we cannot allow these actions to decline our individual and collective ability to put in motion our shared mantra of healthy soil and clean water.
It is once again on us as the state’s Soil and Water Conservation District directors, staff, and stakeholders to ensure that we elevate the message across the state. Ensure that Illinois puts in motion the essential efforts to meet objectives of the Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy (NLRS), achieve grassroots conservation essential to protect the states vital natural resources, and raise the bar of climate resiliency across the state. […]
In closing, I remind you that now is the time for decisive, collective action. It’s time to demonstrate that the Illinois SWCD system will stay the course and respond to the immediate conservation crisis while shaping a recovery which prioritizes social and environmental outcomes through intergenerational investments of your time and talents, as we seek the treasures of those that truly value our individual and collective service today for tomorrow. The actions we collectively take over the coming weeks, months, and perhaps even years will lay the foundations for a more stakeholder-driven and sustainable environment — one that aligns conservation of our natural resources with the constituents and commitments of our state’s General Assembly and highest leadership.
“We’re quite disillusioned with basically a frontal attack, you know, that has landed at our doorsteps.” He says, “We’re extremely disappointed that they’ve cut almost 50% of our funding to the direct line, boots-on-the-ground soil and water conservation districts that serve all 102 counties across the state.”
He says the 4 million dollar cut to SWCD operational grants will have an impact on farmers.
“And if we do not have frontline boots on the ground staff,” he says, “they are not able to work with our producers, our communities, our stakeholders all across the state to help them find access to the various cost share programs or just being aware on how do they put conservation into play on the field.”
The operation budget for soil and water conservation districts across Illinois was cut nearly in half, according to Michael Woods, executive director for the Association of Illinois Soil and Water Conservation Districts. Those funds pay salaries for SWCD technical staff, the folks who leverage millions of dollars in federal conservation funding for farmers and landowners, serving as a conduit for funneling those dollars to conservation-minded landowners. […]
The reduction comes as the Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy deadline looms next year. Set in 2015, the NLRS goal is a 45% reduction in both nitrogen and total phosphorus loads, with interim targets set at a 15% nitrogen decrease and a 25% total phosphorus decrease by 2025. Results in 2023 showed nutrient loss numbers trending in the wrong direction, with nitrogen loads up 4.8% and phosphorus loads up 35%.
Woods calls their 2025 operations budget “pre-2000 funding levels.”
Their total budget allocation for 2025 is $7.5 million, and breaks down like this:
- $4.5 million for SWCD operations (salaries for local technical assistance employees)
- $3 million for cost-share initiatives implemented by SWCDs
For comparison, in 2024, the SWCD portion totaled $11.5 million, and all other allocations remained the same.
Soil and water conservation districts (SWCDs) in Illinois are the only locally based infrastructure that protect Illinois’ soil and water. Cuts to these programs have cost taxpayers money through dirtier water and soil erosion, as well as harm to the environment and public health. To protect Illinois’s valuable soil and water, legislators and the governor should fully fund these programs and work harder to bring federal dollars to Illinois conservation programs.
While the state legislature voted to fully fund SWCDs in 2017, Gov. Bruce Rauner announced that he would only pay out a portion of the enacted budget. These cuts have left SWCDs with only one-third of their promised budget so far this fiscal year. Funding for SWCDs has been cut 70 percent since 2002, despite the proven effectiveness of these programs. In 2015, bipartisan support for these programs kept them open, despite the Rauner administration’s drive to zero out the budget for all SWCDs. […]
Illinois has also left millions of dollars in federal funding on the table that could have supported conservation and agriculture. As an example, Illinois has not received federal funding from the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program since 2006. This program matches every dollar that Illinois dedicates to a local landowner with $4 from the federal government. Not participating in the program has meant the loss of at least $50 million to the state. A smaller example of funding loss is the failure of Illinois to apply to the federal government for funding to enact the Food Safety Modernization Act. Illinois was one of only a handful of states not to receive funding — solely because we did not apply.
Illinois has made many short-sighted decisions with respect to its budget and our state resources. This is one of those decisions. Failure to protect these programs now will cost taxpayers in the future, leaving future Illinois residents with unsafe drinking water and less productive soil.
For Liz Rupel, lead organizer with the Illinois Stewardship Alliance, the 2024 legislative season was “a mixed bag” when it comes to conservation in agriculture. While some conservation bills passed this legislative session, including increased funding for socially-disadvantaged farmers, more money for cover crop assistance programs, and funding toward planting native wetland and prairie plants, other bills that could have an impact did not pass, she said.
One of the “most devastating setbacks,” she said, is budget cuts for an important agricultural conservation program. The Soil and Water Conservation District’s operating budget was slashed in half. The organization provides technical assistance to farmers who implement conservation practices, like planting cover crops to prevent dust storms or installing or restoring a wetland on their property to prevent flooding.
The land use programs director with the Illinois Environmental Council (IEC) says the organization is concerned about budget cuts to Illinois Soil & Water Conservation Districts.
Eliot Clay tells Brownfield the 4-million-dollar decrease will have an impact.
“There was a really big setback in Illinois.” He says, “The real world implications of this are going to be people not being able to retain their jobs with the districts, and districts just not being able to hire people in general.”
He says the work of soil & water conservationists is even more important because adverse weather events are increasing.
“We’re now seeing, you know, multiple dust storm warnings and advisories issued in central Illinois over the last two years, including a really devastating one that occurred on I-55 last year that led to a number of people losing their lives,” he says.
A majority of Illinoisans oppose the Chicago Bears’ latest stadium proposal, according to an exclusive new survey conducted for Crain’s — but, deeper down in the data, team leaders may find reason to hope the public is persuadable.
By a 2-to-1 margin, Illinois voters oppose the team’s lakefront stadium plan, one that would include $1.2 billion of public financing. A majority of voters do not support any public funding going to the stadium, which the Bears envision as being part of a broader reboot of the city’s Museum Campus.
* Crain’s is always looking for a silver lining on this topic, but the numbers are nothing to write home about…
* Take note of the “Does not matter” and “Makes no difference” responses…
Monday, Jun 24, 2024 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Uber is leading the charge to close critical transportation gaps, ensuring reliable access to its services in places that need it most, such as underserved areas like Englewood. This is a part of Uber’s broader commitment to augment and expand the reach of Chicago’s transportation ecosystem, focusing on overcoming the first-mile/ last-mile hurdles that have long plagued residents in farther afield neighborhoods. Uber aims to extend the public transit network’s reach, making urban transportation more accessible and efficient for everyone. Discover the full story on how Uber is transforming city transportation for the better.
As the two-year anniversary of the demise of Roe v. Wade approaches, an increasing number of medical providers around the country are crossing state lines — including into Illinois — for comprehensive abortion training as large sections of the nation either ban or severely restrict pregnancy termination. […]
State abortion bans or restrictions impact the training of an estimated 44% of obstetrics and gynecology residents nationwide. […]
Since the end of Roe, Planned Parenthood of Illinois has seen a roughly 60% increase in trainees at its clinics, with many traveling here from other states.
“There’s a big-time increase in demand for training,” said Dr. Virgil Reid, associate medical director with Planned Parenthood of Illinois. “We have recently reached a point where we had to put a pause on saying yes to new training requests from universities and other organizations around the country that frankly are desperate to get their doctors — their residents — training in this work.”
The latest data from Illinois officials shows abortions performed in the state soared to more than 56,000 in 2022 as the number of out-of-state patients seeking the procedure in Illinois grew 50% year over year to 16,849 patients.
Abortion providers in Illinois are averaging a monthly increase of more than 1,100 abortions since the Dobbs ruling, according to an analysis published last year by the Center for Interdisciplinary Inquiry & Innovation in Sexual & Reproductive Health, or Ci3, at the University of Chicago. […]
The Chicago Abortion Fund, a nonprofit organization helping pregnant people secure money, transportation and lodging support associated with traveling for abortion care, has similarly seen an increase in demand for its services.
Since the Dobbs decision, the fund spent nearly $7 million on patient assistance, up from just $200,000 in 2019, Megan Jeyifo, executive director of the Chicago Abortion Fund, said at the City Club event. Back then, the fund helped fewer than 200 people a year. It’s now up to 200 to 300 people per week, totaling more than 12,000 patients a year from across 40 states, Jeyifo said. Through donations and grants, the Chicago Abortion Fund has been able to support 100% of its callers since July 2019.
After the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling in 2022, the following year Illinois had 37,300 abortion patients who traveled from other states to have the procedure, according to a study and the New York Times.
The figure was 41 percent of the 90,540 abortions performed in Illinois in 2023.
In 2019, just 8,500 abortion patients traveled to Illinois from six states, including Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri, Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee.
But in Illinois 37,300 abortion patients in 2023 came from 15 states, including six Southern states, which ban the procedure, according to the study conducted with the Guttmacher Institute, a research organization that supports abortion rights.
Two years ago, the United States took a giant leap backward. After decades of expanding personal liberties, the Supreme Court ripped them away from women—erasing nearly 50 years of established privacy rights and putting politicians in charge of women’s very personal decisions. The reverberations of the Dobbs case have been enormous—women whose pregnancies endanger their lives forced to flee anti-abortion states, couples required to effectively terminate IVF thus ending their chance to have children, and entire hospital systems shutting down all OB-GYN services in fear of their doctors and nurses being jailed for providing reproductive medical care. Now, women who seek safe, legal abortions are being hurled back to the retrograde reproductive laws of the 1950s, where back alley abortions threaten their lives. The Dobbs decision is a slippery slope that could end in a nightmare state for women. This November, we have a chance at the ballot box to restore reproductive rights and make things right.
In the ’60s and ’70s, my mother stood up for women’s rights at a time when women could be fired from their jobs for being pregnant, were denied the right to advance in the workplace, discriminated against in college admission, and even prevented from getting a credit card without their husband’s approval. My mother was fighting for abortion rights when I was in grammar school, and she let me tag along to protests and marches when I was too young to be left at home alone. Those experiences shaped my life. I learned early on that showing up, speaking out, and voting for change could make all the difference. It did, and it still does.
When Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, any illusion abortion rights supporters had of the permanency of our hard-fought progress was shattered. Every aspect of reproductive health care is now being undone. […]
This is why I founded Think Big America—to fight back. In the last two years, we have seen that when people have a choice, they vote overwhelmingly to protect reproductive freedom. I want to see that again in 2024. Think Big America stands with the people of Florida, Nevada, Arizona, and Montana who are working to guarantee abortion access for over 16 million women in those states.
I’m in this fight because restoring a woman’s right to bodily autonomy is a human right. This November, we can reestablish this fundamental freedom at the state and federal levels.
Think Big America, a nonprofit organization affiliated with Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, on Monday starts running its first paid advertising campaign of the 2024 election cycle across three “reproductive rights battleground states” where the group is supporting ongoing abortion access ballot initiative campaigns.
The 60-second digital ad, released on the second anniversary of the Dobbs decision, is meant to depict “the stark reality pregnant women face in a post-Dobbs America,” according to a spokesperson for the nonprofit group, which shared details of the ad buy first with ABC News.
The spot, part of the group’s six-figure spending targeting and aimed at independent voters, will run on YouTube and connected television platforms in Arizona and Nevada, two states where measures related to protecting abortion will likely be on their November ballots, and in Florida, where an abortion-related ballot initiative is confirmed to appear in front of voters.
“Two years ago, Donald Trump’s Supreme Court not only ripped away abortion access for tens of millions of women, they turned the clock back 50 years on reproductive healthcare,” said Pritzker in a statement.
Two years ago today, the United States Supreme Court released the Dobbs Decision. As we await the end of the Court’s term and an anticipated impact on emergency medical care, we also mark two years of work by the Dobbs Working Group and colleagues in the House and Senate to establish safe access to reproductive and gender-affirming care for the tens of thousands of patients coming into our state for treatment. Over the last two years, we’ve been busy constantly monitoring for new threats from surrounding states and doing everything we can to ensure that patients in Illinois retain access to care while ensuring the safety of providers and patients seeking care from out of state. We passed several bills to ensure our protections are as complete as possible, including a state level bill protecting access to emergency abortion care in the event the Supreme Court drops another late June challenge to access to care. The Dobbs Working Group will continue to monitor for challenges and opportunities to collaborate with national partners to craft policies to expand protections.
Monday, Jun 24, 2024 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Lawmakers in Springfield recently negotiated a back-room deal that could radically change the way small businesses and consumers use their credit and debit cards to give corporate megastores a multi-million dollar giveaway.
This new law could:
- Force separate cash payments on sales tax and tips
- Reduce consumer privacy by exposing more information on your purchases
- Create costly operational nightmares and paperwork burdens for small businesses
This first-of-its-kind, untested mandate would create chaos, removing credit and debit cards as the safe, secure and hassle-free way to pay in Illinois — all so giant, out-of-state corporations can look a little better to their shareholders.
As you’ve probably heard by now, Illinois Republican Party Chair Don Tracy announced his resignation last week, apparently effective the day after the Republican National Convention concludes on July 18.
The announcement came after far-right activists forced out the state party’s vice chair, Mark Shaw, and the resignation of the party’s finance chair, Vince Kolber. Both Shaw and Kolber had made unsuccessful bids for the Republican National Committeeman post days earlier, but were rejected by state convention attendees.
After he first won the chairmanship job in 2021, Tracy said, “Regardless of our differences… Republicans are the only hope for turning Illinois around.”
By last week, Tracy was finally forced to admit the obvious.
“When I took on this full-time volunteer job in February 2021, I thought I would be spending most of my time fighting Democrats,” he wrote in his resignation letter. Now, however, “we have Republicans who would rather fight other Republicans than engage in the harder work of defeating incumbent Democrats by convincing swing voters to vote Republican.”
It has always been thus. This is what I wrote almost six years ago, in late 2018: “The far right has been obsessed with gaining control of the Illinois Republican Party for as long as I can remember. They’ve only really held the party’s reins once, in 2002 when Gary MacDougal was handed the chairmanship after then-House Republican Leader Lee Daniels was forced to step down during a federal investigation into campaign work on state time that eventually nailed his chief of staff.”
But MacDougal didn’t last long: “Before the year was out he was replaced by then-Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka, the only Republican to win statewide during that year’s sweeping Democratic victories. Topinka spent the next few years in almost constant battle with her right flank. But she prevailed and the far right has been shut out ever since.”
When I wrote that story in 2018, Jeanne Ives and the far right were attempting to oust then-party chair Tim Schneider six months after helping broker a deal that made their guy, Lake County Republican Chair Mark Shaw, a state party co-chair with Schneider. Fast-forward to this month, when that very same Mark Shaw was deemed as aloof from the “grassroots” and had to go and Ives is a member of the state central committee.
Party elders have done whatever they could to keep the party out of the hands of the insurgents. The fear was the insurgents would alienate the “donor class,” the wealthy Republicans who only wanted to deal with people who looked and talked like them.
Also, people who spend their lives yelling “No!” and trying to tear things down rarely, if ever, learn to say “Yes” and build things up. It’s no accident that the state party has had 10 different chairpersons in the past 23 years. When you look around the country, though, it’s kind of amazing that the Republican powers that be have held on this long.
Most members of that once-powerful donor class have passed away, retired and/or left Illinois. Kolber, the resigned party finance chair, has contributed more than $1.3 million to campaigns in the past 10 years. The state Republican Party’s latest quarterly report showed that Chairman Tracy, his family’s company and his family members accounted for 76% of all the ILGOP’s individual contributions — $109,600 out of $144,013.
One of the lesser-known, but highly important aspects of state parties is their access to a federal postage discount. By paying for their direct mail through the state parties, candidates can save a lot of money. But that requires a level of trust that the parties will spend the money as intended, which is another reason the people who run things want one of their own in there.
But now, it looks like those perpetually aggrieved outsiders could soon take over the party apparatus.
Palatine Township Republican Chairman and state central committeeman Aaron Del Mar wants to be Tracy’s replacement. Del Mar ran as Gary Rabine’s running mate in the 2022 Republican primary. Rabine finished fifth with less than 7% of the vote.
Del Mar appeared earlier this month on Ramblin’ Ray Stevens’ WLS Radio show where he cracked two jokes about Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s weight. Still, that put him in sync with former President Donald Trump, who also recently mocked Pritzker’s weight.
Needless to say, Trump lost Illinois by 17 points in both 2020 and 2016. But, hey, welcome to what looks to be the new Illinois Republican Party.
* The column sparked a harsh back and forth between former Republican Rep. Grant Wehrli of Naperville and current Rep. Blaine Wilhour of Beecher City…
* ICYMI: Why the Sun-Times traveled to Toronto to learn about immigration…
Nearly half of Toronto’s 2.7 million population identifies as immigrants.
The city’s diversity is visible on its streets. A stretch of a neighborhood includes Asian, Caribbean and Latino retail shops and restaurants. Pedestrians of Canadian, Sudanese or Indian backgrounds mingle while eating Mexican sushi or jerk poutine.
As the United States has doubled down on restrictive immigration policies, particularly around asylum, Canada is viewed as the friendlier neighbor where politicians see immigrants as a possible solution to labor shortages.
“One should see them as nation builders,” Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow told the Chicago Sun-Times about immigrants. “They’ve helped build Canada, they helped build Toronto.”
* Governor Pritzker will join the 2024 SelectUSA Investment Summit “Innovation Ecosystems: Shaping the Future of Tech” panel at 8:10 am. Click here to watch.
The Sun-Times has live updates of Ed Burke’s sentencing, which will begin at 10 am.
*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***
* Capitol News Illinois | State highway shootings decline as critics sue over ‘dragnet surveillance’: Illinois State Police say an automated license plate reader program has helped the agency identify witnesses or suspects in 82 percent of highway shooting cases this year, including all eight that resulted in a death. But as the state looks to further expand its network of more than 400 cameras this year, it faces a lawsuit accusing ISP of operating “a system of dragnet surveillance” by using the cameras to monitor all traffic that passes them.
* Tribune | ComEd’s computer billing fiasco shuts down community solar program for four months: For nearly four months, subscribers to community solar farms dotting the landscape across northern Illinois have been unable to get credit for the power generated to offset their regular ComEd bills. Meanwhile, the companies that operate the solar installations are not getting paid, essentially shutting down one of the state’s signature clean energy programs. “Our program serves as a model for how community solar could work in other states,” said Sarah Moskowitz, executive director of Citizens Utility Board. “It’s very disappointing to see one of our utilities single-handedly halt the program for several months.”
* Tribune | Illinois may soon return land the US stole from a Prairie Band Potawatomi chief 175 years ago: Rep. Will Guzzardi, who sponsored the legislation to transfer the state park, said it is a significant concession on the part of the Potawatomi. With various private and public concerns now owning more than half of the original reservation land, reclaiming it for the Potawatomi would set up a serpentine legal wrangle. […] Guzzardi hopes the Potawatomi don’t have to wait much longer to see that grow exponentially with the park transfer. “It keeps this beautiful public asset available to everyone,” Guzzardi said. “It resolves disputed title for landholders in the area and most importantly, it fixes a promise that we broke.”
*** Statewide ***
* Crain’s | Two years post-Dobbs, Illinois abortion providers feel the crunch: At a recent event before the City Club of Chicago, Chelsea Souder, co-owner of Hope Clinic for Women in downstate Illinois, laid out what her abortion practice is seeing since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade, the landmark legislation that protected the right to end a pregnancy. At the Granite City clinic — near the border of Missouri, where abortion is banned with limited exceptions — patient volumes have doubled within the last year, Souder said, with people visiting from about 20 states that have tightly restricted or outright banned abortions.
* Tribune | Dobbs, 2 years later: Out-of-state medical providers flock to Illinois for abortion training as opportunities dwindle: Since the end of Roe, Planned Parenthood of Illinois has seen a roughly 60% increase in trainees at its clinics, with many traveling here from other states. “There’s a big-time increase in demand for training,” said Dr. Virgil Reid, associate medical director with Planned Parenthood of Illinois. “We have recently reached a point where we had to put a pause on saying yes to new training requests from universities and other organizations around the country that frankly are desperate to get their doctors — their residents — training in this work.”
*** Chicago ***
* Sun-Times | Wrongful convictions unit failed to look into possible police misconduct in murder case, confidential report concludes: A confidential report by special prosecutors assigned to review a decades-old murder slams an initial assessment of the case by the Cook County state’s attorney’s wrongful convictions unit, saying it failed to look into “the integrity of the police investigation.” “This case presents a microcosm of the many ways in which a police investigation into a serious violent crime can fail,” the special prosecutors wrote.
* Chalkbeat | Chicago to change how it flags disruptive behaviors for its youngest students: Under student code of conduct changes the school board is slated to approve this week, schools would only flag behaviors that represent a serious safety issue, such as bringing a weapon to school. And letters alerting parents about these behaviors will no longer refer to “misconduct” and code of conduct “violations” — language district officials said stigmatized young children and failed to reflect their social-emotional development.
* Block Club | 2 CPS Students, Both 16, Fatally Shot Within 24 Hours In Separate Weekend Incidents: The Amundsen High School community is mourning the death of a 16-year-old student killed Friday evening in a shooting in Budlong Woods on the North Side that wounded two other teen boys. About 6:57 p.m. Friday, the three teens were getting into a car in the 5600 block of North Rockwell Street when they were hit by gunfire, police said. A witness said the three were shot at by a person in a black SUV, which fled the scene, police said.
* Sun-Times | Time for reflection: The Bean reopens after months of construction: The project included a rebuild of the plaza podium, adding new stairs, accessible ramps and a waterproofing system, according to the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events. Construction was initially set to end in the spring.[…] The plaza is still undergoing some landscaping improvements, but that work will not impact access to “Cloud Gate,” city officials said.
*** Cook County and Suburbs ***
* Tribune | Thornton Township Board denies vendor payments sought by Supervisor Tiffany Henyard: Concerns over spending transparency by Supervisor Tiffany Henyard led the Thornton Township Board Thursday to deny payments to certain vendors who completed work for the township. Among the payments debated during the special board meeting, called after a last-minute cancellation of Tuesday’s scheduled meeting, were for lawn mowing services for seniors and media content creation for township events.
* ABC Chicago | Cook Co. Commissioner Dennis Deer dies, family announces: In a statement, the family said, “Dr. Deer’s passionate lifelong dedication made him a tireless servant to the community I areas of healthcare, education, economic development, employment and training, re-entry and affordable housing. “Dr. Deer’s greatest joy and pride were his family, He cherished his roles as husband to his high school sweetheart Barbara Deer and father to his twin sons Kaleb and Kanaan and daughter Trinity.”
* Daily Herald | With money to plan greenway, what’s next for defunct Route 53 extension — and should IDOT get paid?: IDOT began buying land for the expansion in the 1970s to solve traffic congestion. But sky-high costs and fears it would destroy natural areas eroded support, and the Illinois tollway, the project’s last sponsor, pulled the plug in 2019. Come 2022, a state advisory panel recommended transferring the property to IDNR to create a 12-mile green corridor between Long Grove and Grayslake. Looking ahead, the plan will engage local stakeholders, develop a consensus vision for the corridor and approach how to fund it, explained Democratic state Rep. Dan Didech of Buffalo Grove.
*** Downstate ***
* KFVS | Williamson Co. Circuit Clerk speaks out about resignation: Maze had announced on June 18 that he would be resigning from the elected position, citing an upcoming deployment overseas as the reason, which would last more than a year. However, on June 20, the Department of Justice released information about a fraud trial involving Maze. As a condition of the pretrial diversion, Maze was required to resign from his position as Williamson Co. Circuit Clerk and agreed not to seek re-election to any public office.
* WSIL | Authorities Investigate Threats Toward Southern Illinois Schools: Authorities said these reported threats were made via Facebook posts toward several area schools and originated outside of the country. Multiple law enforcement officials investigated and found the threat to be not credible, according to law enforcement and school officials.
* Concord Monitor | In Rockford Illinois – a blueprint for reducing homelessness, 1,050 miles from Concord: But in front of Concord’s city committee to end homelessness, Morrissey shared a different story last week. Rockford has achieved “functional zero” – where episodes of homelessness are rare and brief – for both veterans and those chronically homeless. The two keys to their success were putting together and maintaining clear data on who was experiencing homelessness in the community at a given time and an organized governance structure among city leaders, nonprofits and service providers to address it with people one-on-one.
