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Isabel’s afternoon roundup
Monday, Jan 22, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* Press release…
Today, Governor JB Pritzker, Nexamp, and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) joined local leaders and partners to announce that Chicago will serve as Nexamp’s second national headquarters. As the nation’s largest community solar provider, Nexamp’s expansion in Illinois will create 50 new jobs as part of more than $2 billion in planned investments in the state through its existing projects and development pipeline.
“Illinois’s commitment to sustainable energy wouldn’t be possible without innovative companies like Nexamp—and their decision to open a Chicago headquarters underscores the role Illinois is playing in the national solar conversation,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “As solar energy companies like Nexamp expand throughout the Midwest, we see a ripple effect of job creation and skills-building that, just like clean energy itself, will benefit communities and generations for years to come.”
The Pritzker Administration’s landmark Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA) served as a catalyst for Nexamp to choose Illinois for its second headquarters location. With more than 30 Fortune 500 company headquarters in Illinois, the State of Illinois is no stranger to welcoming companies from near and far that are ready to call Illinois their home.
“Thanks to Governor Pritzker’s leadership in securing the passage of the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act in 2021, Illinois is our fastest growing market,” said Nexamp CEO Zaid Ashai. “But the state is far more than just an attractive market for solar generation—for Nexamp, it’s a state which shares our vision of a cleaner, more equitable energy future powered by a diverse, equitable, and skilled workforce. As we sought a location for a second headquarters, Illinois was the natural choice because of our mutual interest in seeing clean energy work for - and do right by - everyone.”
* Campaign news…
Bailey was endorsed by the IFB in 2018 and in 2020.
* Here’s the rest…
* WBEZ | After caring for little ones, Illinois’ home-based child care providers often make minimum wage — or less: Despite her love for the job, Vance said she has struggled with keeping the business afloat over the years. She has had to take side jobs and use credit cards to make ends meet. After paying utilities, staff, taxes and other expenses, she said she only takes home a couple of thousand dollars monthly.
* Sun-Times | Clean energy firm Nexamp to build second headquarters in Chicago: The Boston company’s addition to Chicago marks the latest clean energy company to come to Illinois. Gotion, a Chinese electric vehicle battery manufacturer in September announced plans for a $2 billion lithium battery plant in Manteno on the site of a former Kmart distribution center, a factory that should create 2,600 jobs.
* ABC Chicago | Chicago migrants: Brandon Johnson to discuss crisis in special meeting with 25 suburban mayors: The meeting is set for Monday afternoon, and the mayors will discuss the current state of the area’s new arrival mission and coordination effort. Burr Ridge Mayor Gary Grasso will be in that special meeting at 4 p.m., and he spoke with ABC7 on Monday morning. “I think all mayors want to be sure that their residents are safe and the migrants are safe, and that we have an understanding of how the process is going to work when migrants come,” Grasso said.
* WTTW | Repeated Police Misconduct by 141 Officers Cost Chicago Taxpayers $142.8M Over 4 Years: In 2022 alone, the city spent $51.5 million to resolve lawsuits that named 286 officers whose alleged misconduct more than once cost Chicago taxpayers money. The total for all officers in was 2022 nearly as much as the city spent to resolve lawsuits naming officers more than once between 2019 and 2020, according to the data.
* Sun-Times | Gaza cease-fire resolution vote to be postponed in City Council: In what she called the “interest of collaboration,” mayoral ally Rossana Rodriguez Sanchez (33rd) has agreed to the demand by more than two dozen colleagues to postpone Wednesday’s City Council vote on a resolution demanding a cease-fire in the war between Israel and Hamas.
* Crain’s | Mayor appoints insurance exec to key post on World Business Chicago board: Mayor Brandon Johnson is elevating insurance executive Charles Smith to replace Mellody Hobson as vice-chair of World Business Chicago. Smith is the founder and CEO of CS Insurance Strategies. His appointment was announced Monday and is expected to be approved by the WBC board at its first-quarter meeting.
* Journal-Courier | Governor’s Mansion opening for tours of Illinois artwork: The mansion in Springfield will host art tours of Illinois-based artworks starting Sunday. The artwork on display has been curated by first lady M.K. Pritzker, the Illinois State Museum and the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum.
* LA Times | Malls have rebounded thanks to an unlikely source: Gen Z: Retail experts say these young shoppers have helped malls bounce back after the downturn brought on by the pandemic, in part because the digital space has turned Gen Z into a generation that expects instant gratification. The immediacy of touching, trying out and buying products may be the thing driving them to physical stores.
* Sun-Times | Common hopes his wellness book can fuel a movement toward healthier living: Over the course of 209 pages broken out into four sections (food, body, mind and soul), there are words of wisdom he’s gleaned from many sources, like his integrative physician, Dr. Tracey Rico. He also offers practical ways forward — including plant-based recipes, workouts for all levels and even playlists of the tracks he listens to in the gym to get motivated — for anyone who wants to join what he hopes will become a movement.
* SJ-R | SJ-R’s Leisa Richardson named executive editor of two South Carolina newspapers: “My time in Springfield has been among the most rewarding of my career professionally and personally – thank you. I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished,” Richardson said. “The State Journal-Register and journalism play vital roles in this community. Please continue to support the work and the journalists who produce it.”
* NBC | Billions of cicadas will emerge in the U.S. this year in a rare double-brood event: This year’s dual emergence is a once-in-a-lifetime event. While any given 13-year brood and 17-year brood can occasionally emerge at the same time, each specific pair will see their cycles aligned only once every 221 years. What’s more, this year’s cicada groups, known as Brood XIII and Brood XIX, happened to make their homes adjacent to one another, with a narrow overlap in central Illinois.
* Texas Monthly | Houston Is Now Less Affordable Than New York City: For decades, Houston has been a city with one of the nation’s most pragmatic sales pitches: Move here for big-city opportunities at a small-city price. Not a fan of swarming mosquitoes, punishing hurricanes, and soul-melting moisture? What if I told you that you could barricade yourself away from all three inside a sprawling single-family home on one acre near good schools and golf courses for under $200k? Still not sold? Two words: “backyard grotto.”
* Tribune | Chicago-area man who sued women for badmouthing him on dating site convicted days later of tax fraud involving mob-connected sweepstakes kiosks: According to trial testimony, D’Ambrosio’s boss was Anthony DeMarco, of River Grove, who owns a company called Mac-T LLC specializing in sweepstakes machines, the quasi-legal gaming kiosks that critics say are designed skirt city laws banning video poker.
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* First some background from a column I wrote in December…
Three of Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s appointees to the Illinois Commerce Commission have not yet been confirmed by the Illinois Senate, including the chair, Doug Scott.
All three unconfirmed appointees have recently voted against the stated interests of trade unions.
Senate President Don Harmon has assiduously courted trade union support and has raised millions of campaign dollars from them.
So, right off the bat, the legislative math is pretty clear, even though Harmon’s office opted not to comment for this column.
Operating Engineers Union Local 150 is one of the most politically engaged trade unions in Illinois. The union blasted an ICC vote in November that “paused” $265 million in natural gas pipeline replacement work next year by Peoples Gas, calling it “a troubling example of political overreach” by “unconfirmed appointees” who are “playing games with peoples’ jobs, heat, and safety as we head toward the holidays and the cold of winter.” […]
Mark Poulos, Local 150’s top lobbyist, told me last week the ICC’s decision will cost his union members 1.5 million person-hours of work next year, and he’s furiously warning the ICC commissioners’ confirmation hearings might not go so well in the Senate.
* From a Friday press release…
Gov. Pritzker Announces Eighteen Appointments to Boards and Commissions […]
Doug Scott will continue to serve as Member and Chair of the Illinois Commerce Commission.* Before being appointed to the Commission, Scott served as the Vice-President for Energy Systems at the Great Plains Institute (GPI). In this role, he addressed climate strategy and regulatory response as well as issues involving the changing utility business model. Before joining GPI, Scott served as Chairman of the Illinois Commerce Commission, and prior to that, as Director of the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. Scott’s public service also includes a term as Mayor of Rockford, Illinois; three terms as an Illinois State Representative; and ten years as an attorney for the City of Rockford. Scott earned a Bachelor of Arts with honors from the University of Tulsa and a Juris Doctor with honors from Marquette University. […]
* Appointments pending confirmation by the Illinois Senate.
* Gov. Pritzker was asked today if he was worried about Chair Scott’s confirmation. Pritzker didn’t directly answer the question…
Well, he’s not alone in making those decisions. As you know, it’s a bipartisan commission. And all of the commissioners have participated in the decisions that have been made over the last few months that have been great for clean energy, that have been good for consumers, making sure that we’re trying to keep the rates that they’re paying as low as possible. So I’m very pleased with the work that they’re doing. And and I look forward to them being confirmed by the state Senate.
Thoughts?
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* Governor Pritzker during a Q&A following a Roe v. Wade anniversary roundtable…
Number one, we want to make sure that we are securing women’s rights for as long and as broadly as we can.
Second, we know that women are seeking those rights coming across the border from places like Missouri and Wisconsin and Indiana. We want to provide the services to them as well, if they should need it. The providers that were here today, many of them are seeing many more patients as a result of that. Again, these are refugees from other states. This is a vitally important fundamental reason that many of us are engaged in the fight for freedom.
I will say that, personally, I believe that we need to continue this battle to figure out how we can do a better job of providing the right kinds of services. It isn’t just a question of the old thinking that it was a single mom who got pregnant, a single woman who got pregnant and is seeking an abortion and has never had a child before. We’re talking about families now. Women who are in Missouri or in Indiana, who have an ectopic pregnancy or have some other challenge with their health care related to reproductive health. And their lives are on the line. And we need to make sure that we are the ones here in Illinois that are helping to save their lives.
* Megan Jeyifo, executive director of the Chicago Abortion Fund, also spoke to reporters today…
At [the Chicago Abortion Fund] we’ve seen a 92 percent increase in support requests post-Dobbs. And that highlights Illinois, as the crucial search state that we are. Recent research released by the Guttmacher Institute and the Society of Family Planning shows that Illinois had the largest increase in abortions in the country post-Dobbs with Florida right behind.
We anticipate a ruling in Florida any day now that will immediately impact Illinois. As we know people are traveling throughout the southeast. They’re already coming to Illinois, and Florida is also sharing that burden and if we lose Florida, we will see an influx that affects our state immediately right away.
* Related…
* Tribune | Roe v. Wade anniversary: Two activist families fight contrasting abortion battles in Illinois, Indiana: Miller is a third-generation anti-abortion activist, the granddaughter of the late Joseph Scheidler, who founded the Chicago-based Pro-Life Action League and was widely known across the country as the “godfather of pro-life activism.” The teen is now carrying on his legacy through her own work opposing abortion in Illinois, a longtime stronghold for reproductive rights in the Midwest. Just over the state line in northwest Indiana, another family is fighting a diametrically opposite battle to restore reproductive freedoms in a part of the country where they’ve recently been stripped.
* NYT | What to Know About the Federal Law at the Heart of the Latest Supreme Court Abortion Case: One of the newest battlefields in the abortion debate is a decades-old federal law called the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, known by doctors and health policymakers as EMTALA. The issue involves whether the law requires hospital emergency rooms to provide abortions in urgent circumstances, including when a woman’s health is threatened by continuing her pregnancy. But, as with many abortion-related arguments, this one could have broader implications. Some legal experts say it could potentially determine how restrictive state abortion laws are allowed to be and whether states can prevent emergency rooms from providing other types of medical care, such as gender-affirming treatments.
* AP | Missouri abortion-rights campaign backs proposal to enshrine access but allow late-term restrictions: Missourians for Constitutional Freedom said it is committing to a proposal, one of 11 versions, that would let lawmakers regulate or ban abortion after what’s called viability, with an exception for the protection of the life and physical and mental health of the woman.
* KSHB | Community weighs in on Missourians for Constitutional Freedom launching ballot initiative: “Most of these patients, if not all, would have their rights restored by a fetal viability standard, and this would put us on par in terms of language of laws with a state like Illinois,” said Dr. Iman Alsaden, chief medical officer at Planned Parenthood Great Plains. “And certainly no one thinks of Illinois as a restrictive abortion state.”
* KOMU | Missouri Democrats reveal abortion rights legislation: Abortion has been illegal in Missouri in nearly all circumstances including rape or incest, under a state law enacted in 2019 and signed into law in 2022. […] HB 2038 and 2040, both sponsored by state Rep. Emily Weber (D-Kansas City) would “protect the right to an abortion prior to the point of fetal viability when necessary to protect the life or health of the mother.” It would also specify that an ectopic pregnancy should be considered a medical emergency, allowing an abortion to legally be performed.
* NPR | Why Vice President Harris is going to Wisconsin today to talk about abortion: In Wisconsin, Harris plans to lay blame for the restrictions with former President Donald Trump, the frontrunner in the Republican presidential race. “The former president hand-picked three Supreme Court justices because he intended for them to overturn Roe. He made a decision to take your freedoms,” Harris will say, according to excerpts released by the White House.
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* First, some historical background…
(B)ack in 2008, when Rod Blagojevich was nearing his fateful end, the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute found that 75% of Illinoisans believed Illinois was heading in the wrong direction, while 12.4% believed it was going in the right direction.
In 2010, the Simon Institute had the wrong/right track result at 81%-11%. In 2011, the Institute poll pegged the numbers at 75%-15% wrong/right, and it stayed there for a while. The Simon poll’s 2012 wrong/right results were 70%-20%. The 2013 Simon poll had it at 75%-16%.
In early 2015, shortly after Republican Bruce Rauner was sworn in as governor, Illinoisans’ mood improved a little. “Only” 63% said the state was headed in the wrong direction, while 22% said it was moving in the right direction.
By 2016, after all heck had broken loose in Springfield amid Rauner’s refusal to negotiate a budget until he won his war with organized labor, things got even worse. The Simon poll found a whopping 84% of the state’s voters believed Illinois was off on the wrong track, while only 10% thought it was following the right path. The Simon poll numbers were essentially unchanged two years later (84%-9%) as Rauner was finishing up his first and only term.
By October of 2022, an Emerson College poll found that 52 percent thought Illinois was on the wrong track, while 48 percent thought the state was heading in the right direction.
* Gov. Pritzker was asked today about national polling which shows that, despite lower inflation and a stronger economy, people are still pessimistic about economic conditions. His response…
Well, we’re actually solving problems and actually making things better. And in the end, it’s good policy that makes good politics.
And so whether there’s a lag between the time that people feel the benefit of an economy where earners are earning, outpacing inflation, and therefore their income levels are rising. They may not recognize it at the beginning. But I think they’re beginning to recognize it now.
I’d like to say I just read a Republican poll in Illinois that shows that, in Illinois anyway, that more than 50 percent of the people of Illinois are optimistic about the economy in Illinois and only 42 percent are not optimistic. That’s different than the polls that you’re citing, right? And that’s a recent poll by a Republican organization. And it shows that I think there’s progress and, certainly in Illinois, there is more optimism.
* I asked his spokesperson what poll he was talking about and was pointed to this result…
That’s actually a better result than Pritzker portrayed. Just 20 percent are pessimistic? And less than one percent are very pessimistic? In Illinois?
Empower to Win is a project of Cor Strategies, which is a Republican consulting group. The poll was featured in their latest video presentation.
…Adding… From the Empower to Win response to Pritzker’s comments…
This latest tracking poll shows a huge challenge for Illinois Republicans in 2024. How do you craft an economic message when a majority of voters are optimistic about the economy, yet still cite the economy as one of their top issues and want to leave the state?
More from the poll…
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* Politico…
Behind closed doors: [Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson] met privately with small groups of aldermen Friday — keeping groups small avoids the pesky open meeting rules — to brief them on how the city will no longer set up new shelter space because the costs are too high. That means it won’t build industrial tents for migrants, either. Here’s a copy of the briefing report obtained by Playbook.
New strategy: The city will work with churches and private individuals to find beds for asylum seekers. And as individuals leave any of the current shelters, beds will open for the next wave of migrants. And while the cold snap continues, the Harold Washington Library will serve as a warming center for some asylum seekers as well as for the already unhoused.
The goal: Get asylum seekers into regular housing as soon as possible or send them back to the landing area, which is a shelter of sorts until beds open up in the current shelters. Getting folks out of shelters and into housing will be easier now that the state has staffed up case managers in nearly all of the city’s 28 shelters, the aldermen were told.
[From Rich: The landing area is not a “shelter of sorts.” Heated buses ain’t shelters. This “plan” is not a plan. Instead, it’s the mayor deciding that reality will not intrude on his other priorities. Also, his budget deliberately underfunded this effort and the money will run out in April. What’s the city gonna do then?]
*** UPDATE 1 *** Gov. Pritzker was asked about this report today…
We do not have enough shelter as it is in the city of Chicago. The city has not told the state where they would like us to put our resources to build new shelters or help them build new shelters. So we can’t help if they don’t identify those locations. And we need to make sure that we’re not ending shelter capacity as the city is now planning to do at the end of winter. If you think this problem is going to end when the temperature warms up, it’s not. We still need shelter for people. So I’m deeply concerned and I’m hoping that at least the plan that I read this morning actually in your column is not one that they will end up carrying out.
…Adding… From comments…
this reminds me of the line in Band Of Brothers about a lieutenant: “He wasn’t a bad leader because he made bad decisions. He was a bad leader because he made no decisions.”
*** UPDATE 2 *** Um, this statement from the city ignores the approximately $600 million spent by the state. The city has not “carried the entire of weight”…
There are 1,300 municipalities in the State of Illinois, of which Chicago is one. The State has the authority to fund, stand up and operate a shelter in any one of those municipalities at any time that it chooses, including the City of Chicago. When announcing additional funding for the mission on November 16, 2023, the State reduced the length of rental assistance from six to three months for all residents in shelter. The 60-day shelter policy was announced in conjunction with State investments to accelerate outmigration and resettlement.
Our goal is to manage the immediate humanitarian crisis while providing the necessary resources for asylum seekers to achieve independence and self-sufficiency. The City of Chicago has taken in nearly 35,000 new arrivals since the mission began, and currently houses 14,000 new arrivals in 28 City-run shelters. Outmigration and resettlement services have been expanded significantly to create more open beds within the shelter system.
We continue to partner with the County and the State to provide asylum seekers with temporary shelter, food services, medical care and case management, and will support the State in fulfilling its promise of 2,200 shelter beds made back in November. Thus far, the City of Chicago has carried the entire of weight of the new arrival mission, sheltering nearly every asylum seeker sent to Illinois. We remain committed, however, to ensuring that asylum seekers are housed while also fulfilling our fiduciary responsibilities to the people of Chicago.
Also, resettlement is being handled by the state, not the city.
And this once again begs the question: Is the progressive mayor just going to dump migrants into the street when his woefully inadequate budget runs out of appropriations authority?
[ *** End Of Updates *** ]
* Block Club…
Migrants and volunteers told Block Club that the changing deadline for leaving shelters has created “panic,” with communication from the city limited to single-page eviction notices in Spanish, often passed out just a day or two before shelter stays are said to be up.
Some migrants still have outdated eviction notices penned for Jan. 22, when the deadline was first extended, said volunteer Erika Villegas, who has been receiving frantic messages from families with pictures of the notices. […]
Mayoral spokesperson Ronnie Reese said plans are still in flux.
“We are currently finalizing changes to the 60-day policy and will have more information in the coming weeks,” Reese said in an email.
[From Rich: More info in “the coming weeks”? Their evictions were scheduled for today.]
* ABC Chicago…
New numbers Friday show the cost Texas paid to fly migrants to Illinois last month.
Two flights were chartered by the Texas state government late last year. One flew from El Paso and landed at O’Hare Airport. The other was from San Antonio and landed in Rockford. […]
The Texas Division of Emergency Management spent $135,000 on the flight that landed at O’Hare and more than $235,000 on the flight to Rockford.
The flight from El Paso carried more than 120 migrants to Chicago, which means at least $1,000 was spent per migrant. There were more than 300 asylum seekers on the flight to Rockford.
* More…
* Sun-Times | What New York’s migrant shelter limits could mean for Chicago: ‘Expect utter chaos’: “Be aware that this move is gonna throw away that tiny bit of stability that the families have had since coming here,” Mahmoodi warned in a phone interview from New York. “These are children who started school and are making friends — all those small things are ‘poof’, out the window.”
* The Hill | Texas company sues Chicago over penalties on buses dropping of migrants: The suit argues Chicago’s penalties are a violation of the interstate commerce clause, and the equal rights and due process of the company and the migrants on buses. “Rather than welcoming migrants and giving them sanctuary, Chicago is turning its back on those wishing to travel here by enacting an ordinance that targets the transportation companies that transport migrants from our southern border to their desired destination — Chicago. — in violation of Plaintiff’s constitutional rights,” the suit stated.
* NPR | Chicago mayor talks immigration as city shelters reach breaking point: Mayors from all over the country are meeting in Washington D.C. this week to discuss immigration and other pressing issues in their cities. We get the latest from Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson.
* Rockford Register Star | What happened the night a plane filled with asylum seekers landed in Rockford?: With temperatures dipping to 30 degrees in the early morning hours of New Year’s Eve, migrant families who went to Texas seeking asylum, found themselves exiting an Eastern Airlines charter plane in Rockford. Most of the 355 people were children, officials say, and they were wearing t-shirts, shorts and flip flops.
* The Record | Wilmette steps up for arriving migrants, leading Village to expand donation drive: The Village started an impromptu winter-clothing drive to support migrants by placing donation boxes inside the town’s Metra station, 722 Green Bay Road. It didn’t take long for community members to respond. “The response was incredible,” Village Manager Mike Braiman said. “The station was filled wall to wall with donations within a couple of days.”
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Watch your costs, please
Monday, Jan 22, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller
* My weekly syndicated newspaper column…
One of the bigger state budget expansion fights we could see play out in Springfield this spring is the creation of a permanent $300 Child Income Tax Credit.
The new proposal has been scaled back from last year’s $700 per child tax credit bill, which went nowhere in the House after it was introduced in February and ultimately had 15 sponsors and co-sponsors. But proponents say even the downsized version would make a major difference.
The problem, of course, is the cost, pegged at about $300 million per year. As I’ve told you before, numbers crunchers with the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget are saying Illinois could face a budget deficit of $891 million next fiscal year, which begins July 1. That deficit could rise to $1.4 billion in fiscal year 2026 and $1.66 billion in FY27.
But this issue has real potential to take off in the General Assembly.
“We have the data that shows roughly 60% of the recipients of this benefit across the state would be Black and Brown households,” state Rep. Mary Beth Canty, D-Arlington Heights, said recently on WTTW’s Chicago Tonight program. “We’re talking about being able to make a difference in the lives of about a million and a half children across Illinois. That is a game-changer for families.”
The idea is framed as a partial replacement for the now-expired but massive 2021 expansion of the federal child tax credit.
“Monthly checks of up to $3,600 offered parents reliable resources to pay for basic goods, like formula, diapers and school supplies, and basic necessities like shelter, utilities and food,” wrote Natalie Foster in a recent Crain’s Chicago Business op-ed. “The expanded federal CTC slashed child poverty in half, decreased food insecurity and improved educational outcomes.”
“This is something that has to be dealt with at the federal level,” Canty admitted last week. Efforts are indeed being made in Washington, D.C., to revive a scaled-down version of the federal tax credit program. A bipartisan agreement has been announced, but D.C. being D.C., nobody can be certain it can actually pass.
So the states, Canty said, “have a real opportunity to make a difference. There are 14 other states that are running programs like this.”
Asked how she would pay for the new tax credit program, Canty said, “Where there is a will there’s a way,” which is not exactly an answer. “We always talk about a budget being a moral document,” Canty said, “So when you talk about your policies, those are the things that you want people to know, but what we fund is where your morals really are. Those are your real values.”
All true, of course, but, unless he goes along with it, this could be one of the most interesting challenges to the governor’s effort to tamp down attempts to add permanent costs to the budget in the face of possible future deficits.
Keep in mind that more than half of all current House Democrats never served under then-Gov. Bruce Rauner’s budget disasters, and the budget crunch during the pandemic’s early stage was beyond anyone’s control and was dealt with in just a few session days, so the newbies really have no idea what it’s like to try and manage a possible deficit year.
Meanwhile, Capitol News Illinois reported in December on the Commission on Equitable Public University Funding, which is “tasked with developing a new model for funding higher education.”
The news service reported that “some draft meeting materials presented at the board’s November meeting suggest it would require as much as an overall $14,000 per-student increase in state appropriations to fully fund higher education. With 130,000 undergraduates and 56,000 graduate students enrolled at state universities this year, these numbers suggest the needed funding increase could reach into the billions.”
Not included in the article was the arithmetic, which would total $2.6 billion in spending. That’s per year, by the way.
There’s just no possible way the state can pay for that. But it could be in the realm of possibility for another spending “ramp,” something along the line of what the state did with pension funding and with gradually bringing all K-12 schools up to adequate funding levels.
Anyway, just add that potential cost to the pile.
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It’s just a bill
Monday, Jan 22, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* SB2834 from Sen. Steve McClure…
Amends the Carbon Dioxide Transportation and Sequestration Act. Provides that a certificate of authority does not grant an owner or operator of a carbon dioxide pipeline the authority to take and acquire an easement in any property or interest in property for the construction, maintenance, or operation of a carbon dioxide pipeline through the exercise of the power of eminent domain. Removes corresponding provisions concerning eminent domain. Repeals a provision that provides procedures for acquiring easements.
* HB4531 from Rep. David Friess…
Creates the Classification by Biological Sex Act. Sets forth findings. Provides that any public school or school district and any State, local agency, department or office that collects vital statistics for the purpose of complying with antidiscrimination laws or for the purpose of gathering accurate public health, crime, economic, or other data shall classify each individual who is part of the collected data set as either male or female at birth. Amends the Statute on Statutes. Sets forth the meaning of the following terms as used in any statute or any rule or regulation: a person’s sex; female and male; woman and girl; man and boy; and mother and father.
* Press release…
In an effort to prioritize educators, State Senator Meg Loughran Cappel introduced a measure that would guarantee teachers have classroom planning time built into each school day.
“During my 15 years in the classroom, I experienced firsthand the struggle many teachers face when trying to find time to plan,” said Loughran Cappel (D-Shorewood). “Teachers are often forced to plan lessons before or after school. By providing time during the school day, we can ensure better quality plans while avoiding extensive hours outside the classroom for educators.”
Senate Bill 2721 would guarantee that every teacher receives at least 45 minutes of continuous, uninterrupted individual classroom planning time per day. The requirement would apply to all public school districts in Illinois.
Currently, there is no law that protects a teacher’s ability to have time set aside during the school day to plan their lessons. Under Loughran Cappel’s measure, an educator would be able to choose to substitute or attend meetings, trainings or conferences during their designated planning time.
“When we prioritize our teachers, we ensure students are given the best educational opportunities,” said Loughran Cappel. “We must continue putting education at the forefront of our priorities.”
Senate Bill 2721 awaits committee assignment in the Illinois Senate.
* WBEZ…
Congress is nearing a January deadline to expand the national child tax credit, but Illinois lawmakers say they’re pushing forward on a state-level credit that would give working and low-income families financial relief regardless of what happens in Washington, D.C. […]
“The time has come for Illinois to put those dollars back in the pockets of parents who continue to struggle,” state Sen. Mike Simmons said. “I’m confident that we’re going to get this included in the budget ASAP.” […]
Simmons introduced a bill in the state Senate last year still under consideration that would award parents a credit of up to $700 per child. A similar bill introduced in the state House of Representatives has been gaining sponsors this month.
A recent analysis by the Illinois Economic Policy Institute found the proposal would slash childhood poverty in the state by 7.6%. According to the Annie E. Casey Foundation, 15.7% of Illinois children live in poverty.
* Sen. Andrew Chesney filed SB2831…
Amends the Election Code. Provides that a person is ineligible to hold the position of committeeperson in any specified committee or any other elected or appointed committee position, including, but not limited to, local, county, or State chairperson, if he or she has ever been convicted of a felony, unless he or she has received a pardon for the offense from the Governor or the President of the United States. Provides that when a committeeperson or a person holding any other elected or appointed committee position (rather than a committeeperson) is convicted of a felony, the position occupied by that committeeperson shall automatically become vacant. Amends the Unified Code of Corrections to make a conforming change. Effective immediately.
* Sen. Steve McClure filed SB2824…
Amends the School Boards Article of the School Code. Provides that a school district shall waive tuition costs for a non-resident pupil who was previously a resident of the district if the pupil submits a letter stating that the pupil no longer resides in the district because the pupil has made allegations of domestic violence, abuse, or sexual abuse against the pupil’s parent or guardian and the Department of Children and Family Services has removed the pupil from the parent’s or guardian’s home.
* SB2820 from Sen. Lakesia Collins…
Amends the Children and Family Services Act. Redefines the term “children” to include persons under the age of 23 (rather than 21) who were committed to the Department of Children and Family Services pursuant to the Juvenile Court Act or the Juvenile Court Act of 1987 and who continue under the jurisdiction of the court. Requires the Department to provide or authorize child welfare services, aimed at assisting minors to achieve sustainable self-sufficiency as independent adults, for any minor eligible for the reinstatement to wardship pursuant to the Juvenile Court Act of 1987, whether or not such reinstatement is sought or allowed, provided that the minor consents to such services and has not yet attained the age of 23 (rather than 21). Makes conforming changes in the Juvenile Court Act of 1987, the Illinois Identification Card Act, and the Medical Assistance Article of the Illinois Public Aid Code.
* HB4532 from Rep. Mason…
Amends the Illinois Insurance Code. Creates the Pet Insurance Article of the Code. Defines terms. Requires a pet insurer to disclose coverage exclusions, limitations, waiting periods, and other information. Provides that pet insurance applicants shall have the right to examine and return the policy, certificate, or rider to the company or an agent or insurance producer of the company within 30 days of its receipt and to have the premium refunded if, after examination of the policy, certificate, or rider, the applicant is not satisfied for any reason. Provides that a pet insurer may issue policies that exclude coverage on the basis of one or more preexisting conditions with appropriate disclosure to the consumer. Provides that a pet insurer may issue policies that impose waiting periods upon effectuation of the policy that do not exceed 30 days for illnesses or orthopedic conditions not resulting from an accident. Prohibits waiting periods for accidents. Provides that no pet insurer or insurance producer shall market a wellness program as pet insurance. Sets forth provisions concerning wellness programs sold by a pet insurer or insurance producer.
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Open thread
Monday, Jan 22, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* What’s going on in your part of Illinois?…
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Isabel’s morning briefing
Monday, Jan 22, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* ICYMI: White Sox and Related Midwest stadium pitch shows how a new neighborhood could be built. Crain’s…
- The developer, Related Midwest said the shift in the vision for The 78 will not abandon plans to create a new $7 billion neighborhood from scratch.
-The stadium would be surrounded by a hotel and thousands of units of housing, 20% set aside at affordable rates.
-The White Sox say that even if they abandon their century-long stay on 35th Street that the neighborhood won’t be left behind.
* Related stories…
* Isabel’s top picks…
Governor Pritzker will be at the Nexamp Illinois offices on Wacker Drive at 10:30 am for a business development announcement. At noon, Pritzker will hold press availability following Roe v. Wade anniversary roundtable. Click here to watch.
* Here’s the rest of your morning roundup…
* Sun-Times | Chicago’s FBI boss preparing for threats in unusual election year that brings Democratic convention to town: “It’s just not good enough based on the new, the evolving, the breadth of the challenges, and the threats that we face nationally, globally, but specifically for Chicago,” Wheeler told the Chicago Sun-Times. “I feel like we have a more-than-our-fair-share of threat.”
* Crain’s | Will a nuclear reactor spring up on the U of I campus?: U of I, which has one of the nation’s top nuclear-engineering programs, operated a research reactor on campus for nearly 40 years until the late 1990s. It’s now one of a handful of universities and national labs that want to build next-generation small modular reactors — also called microreactors — for research and test purposes. If successful, their work could create new interest in nuclear energy for the first time in decades and keep Illinois at the forefront of the industry.
* AP | Illinois high court hands lawmakers a rare pension-overhaul victory: The court’s unanimous opinion rejected claims by three dozen working and retired police officers and firefighters from across the state that the merger of 649 separate systems into two statewide accounts violated the state constitution’s guarantee that benefits “shall not be diminished or impaired.”
* WCIA | State to make cuts to care for developmentally disabled in Illinois: Service providers across the state are bracing for an 8.7 percent reduction in hours covered by the state. The money the state allocates to pay for those hours goes towards employee salaries, and without state funding, providers will have to find new ways to cover those costs, or reduce care hours.
* Pantagraph | Lt. Gov. Stratton launches ‘We Thrive’ initiative in Bloomington, empowering minority women in business: Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton gathered with 25 minority women who own businesses Thursday in her first “We Chat” listening session held in Bloomington.
* WTAX | Educator. Doodler.: The superintendent of the Illinois State Board of Education, Tony Sanders, has a plan to address underperforming schools, as designated by the state’s annual Report Card. “We’ve been working on rethinking our statewide system of support for the school districts that are really struggling the most,” Sanders said Thursday, “so we’ll be announcing in the next few months some strategies that we’re going to be taking at the state board level to really rethink how we are supporting schools and school districts that are either in targeted or comprehensive status.”
* Daily Herald | State liquor tax revenues dropped last year. Will lawmakers raise tax rates?: For the first time in at least a decade, annual liquor tax revenue in Illinois declined. The modest 0.3% drop from $318.9 million in fiscal year 2022 to $318.1 million in fiscal year 2023 also ends a five-year run where the state saw annual off-premise liquor tax collections increase by at least $2 million a year.
* Tribune | ‘Locked in’: Chicagoans who use wheelchairs, mobility aids struggle to navigate city’s sidewalks during snowstorm: Some Chicagoans who use wheelchairs and mobility aids say it’s challenging to navigate the city’s sidewalks when extreme weather grips the region, like last week. Wind chills descended to nearly minus 30 degrees on Tuesday, while the city saw 1.5 inches of snow Friday morning. Disability and transit advocacy organizations are calling on the city to improve conditions, referencing a program that could require the city to clear some sidewalks in winter.
* WIFR | Despite new federal standards, Minnesota says funny and quirky traffic signs are here to stay: According to their statement, there is some leeway to what can be displayed on signs. Additionally, officials said they are aware of the new guide guidelines and that “we do not anticipate they will change the way MnDot shares creative highway safety messages.” The Federal Highway Administration also denied a request for an interview but did release a statement.
* Casino | Golden Nugget Danville Casino Already Helping Charities, Public Pensions: While the city forecast $2 million in yearly receipts in casino revenue alone, the Golden Nugget delivered $1.332 million in just six months of operation, indicating the venue could surpass prior estimates for Danvile revenue.
* The Guardian | Half of recent US inflation due to high corporate profits, report finds: Prices for consumers rose by 3.4% over the past year, but input costs for producers increased by just 1%, according to the authors’ calculations, which were based on data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis and National Income and Products Accounts.
* Sun-Times | ‘Chicago rat hole’ mysteriously filled in, then restored by neighbors — ‘Chicago takes care of its own’: Residents of the building next to the rat hole — who asked not to be identified for fear of “ratribution” from those who filled the hole — worked Friday afternoon to scrub away at what was left after some dedicated fans had scraped out most of what had briefly filled the hole.
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